There is a mythical creature with green glowing eyes that has spooked the residents of a small town.
Goulburn, a rural town in New South Wales, is home to the Big Merino, a massive statue of a sheep that tourists from far and wide stop by to take a photo with -- but now some people are worried the statue is coming to life.
Third annual Goulburn Connects Festival on this Sunday. https://t.co/tR4b05J5t0 pic.twitter.com/bs8y1RDrWx— Goulburn Post (@GoulburnPost) November 8, 2015
Goulburn residents -- and Australia at large -- are scared the sheep may actually be a centuries-old deity, awoken by the troubling disturbance of man's own foolishness, as its eyes have suddenly started to glow.
i have always thought that the Big Merino could be improved by imbuing it with terrible and ancient magic pic.twitter.com/Iu1LqLpj25— j.r. hennessy (@jrhennessy) November 9, 2015
What's happening with the big merino? pic.twitter.com/aJ2hUADYx9— Reid Parker (@ReidParker_) November 9, 2015
"remember who you are Simba" #bigmerino pic.twitter.com/QDnq5fdeNy— Andrew Brown (@AndrewBrownFCN) November 9, 2015
In truth, Big Merino's pulsing, green eyes are another of man's creations, as they were installed by a local electrical business in cooperation with an action group to promote sustainable living -- hence the colour.
The sheep's eyes will light up every night until Nov. 16, coinciding with the annual Goulburn Connects Sustainability Festival on Nov. 15, which aims to teach local residents how to reduce wastage and live sustainably.
Hosted by The Goulburn Group (TGG), a grassroots action group, more than 70 stalls will be present at the festival to showcase things like water efficiency, aquaponics -- where waste produced by farmed aquatic creatures supplies nutrients for hydroponically grown plants -- and even Tesla will be down to show off their Model S.
Debbie Hunt, Vice-President of TGG, told Mashable Australia it's a way to inform people who may not know much about sustainable energy and the benefits "making the switch" can have.
"The festival is about showing people the small steps they can take to support sustainable energy," she told Mashable Australia. "It's to make them aware of all the alternatives available in transport, energy and more."
It has had a scarf, blue balls & sunglasses, now Big Merino's green eyes go viral. https://t.co/HoUqYTS2kb pic.twitter.com/EYk9NhohBg— Goulburn Post (@GoulburnPost) November 9, 2015
"The sheep's eyes haven't been up for long but we've already had a few people tell us it looks freaky," she said. "I suppose it does, but if it gets their attention then I guess that's a good thing."
Goulburn is one of the first towns in regional Australia to have a Tesla recharging station, and Hunt says it's a sign people are willing to make sustainable changes if the option is there.
"The station actually came out of a previous festival we held, and a lot of people told us they'd actually buy cars like [a Tesla] if there were more things like the station around," she said. "Now it's here, it's actually being used quite a lot more than I thought it would."