Black&white cowhide rug (minus the cow) w/bullet holes

• This here cowhide rug has been has been corralled at our house, under a lounge chair, for a few years. Now it is hearing the call of the wild, so I am setting it free.

• It is black and white, but mostly black. I never met the cow - or was it a bull? - which so generously gave of itself. It was a large animal, as the hide measures 197cm at its longest, and about 160cm across its middle. The thickness of the hide itself varies, from 3mm thick on some edges, and 1mm thick on others. It weighs five kilos, and is as tough as.

• It would be a strong fashion statement in any apartment, introducing a rural element in a city environment. Place it in the middle of the room under a coffee table, and your decor will be wild west, but without the dust and flies.

• It has a few worn patches, mostly around the edges, where the animal possibly rubbed against fence posts/trees.

• There is one small worn spot in the middle of the back, about the size of a dollar. It is the centre of - yes, you guessed it - a cowlick, where the fur kicks up in a kind of a twirl.

• Of course, no cowhide is complete without bullet holes. This one comes with three down the middle of the back, where the hair is thickest, so you don't see them when it lies flat on the floor. Which is a pity, because they should be featured, don't you think?

• Alright. They are not bullet holes. Who'd shoot a cow in the back? I was having a fanciful moment, trying to portray a cow with an interesting past.

• The truth is more mundane. The holes are where the hide had been folded and split in three places. Each hole follows the line of the fold, one being large enough for three fingers to push through, the second two fingers, and the third about thumb size.

• If this rug were new and undamaged, it would retail for about $350. END
  

COMMENT:
Starting price was $39.99. After 15 bids, it sold for $127.

Nuts and bolts: it weighed five kilos. Postage from Sydney to Victoria was $25.80 (paid by buyer). I learned the hard way that you cannot send a rolled rug through Australia Post. It was too long - Australia Post will only send articles shorter than 105cm. Our rolled cowhide stood taller than me when I tried to lodge it at the post office. So I lugged it home again, and folded it in four, and rewrapped. It passed the length test, and ended up happily floored in North Balwyn, Victoria.