A fine-wool sheep now has a load off its shoulders after being relieved of its 21kg fleece.
Dubbed "Mr T'', the three-quarter merino from Andrew Paterson's Matakanui Station, near Omakau, was found with three years of wool growth about a week ago at Northburn Station, near Cromwell, before he was returned home.
The wether could walk easier yesterday after champion shearer Dion Morrell, of Alexandra, shore 21.2kg from him.
For a sheep with so much wool, you had to slow the shearing process down, he said.
"A normal fleece is five or six kilos so every time you take a blow there is a lot of weight in the wool, which can pull the skin out. He's a fine-wool sheep, so he has soft skin anyway.
"It normally takes about two minutes to shear a sheep, but this took about quarter of an hour.''
As it had not been handled for years, the sheep did "not want a part of it'', he said.
"You've got to try and make him feel comfortable, give him some confidence that he's in safe hands.''
Mr Paterson said it was very uncommon to find a sheep alive with three years of growth as they would usually "tip over and die''.
"The modern sheep doesn't shed its fleece. Because we've bred that out of them, we need to shear them for animal welfare ... if you don't, it will actually kill them.''
The sheep and its wool were in "surprisingly good'' condition, he said.
"I would say he's managed to find good feed over there.''
The sheep would be kept in the shed for a couple of days to let its skin harden, he said.
Another one of the station's sheep was found at the same time with two years worth of wool.
"It was in much worse condition. He only had two teeth.''
The station has Department of Conservation land between it and Northburn Station, which it borders over the Dunstan Mountains.
It could have either jumped over or climbed through fences to escape, Mr Paterson said.
Farmer Bevan McKnight, of Northburn Station, said the sheep was found about a week ago, in a gully 5km from its border with Matakanui.
"He was found by the tailing crew. I'm not quite sure why they named him that.''
It "didn't like being handled''.
Shrek the Sheep gained worldwide fame when caught in 2004 at Bendigo Station near Tarras, after avoiding shearing for six years.
The animal's 27kg fleece was shorn in a televised event and pieces were sold and proceeds were donated to charity. At the time the weight was a world record.
In 2006 he was shorn again on an iceberg floating off the coast of Dunedin.
The record was broken last year by the 40.45kg fleece of merino sheep Chris, found on a farm near Canberra in Australia.
