WELLINGTON (DPA) - A sheep being sold as a "ride on mower" on New Zealand's largest auction website attracted flocks of followers on Wednesday (April 10).

The Christchurch seller with the handle Celtickiwi29 published a photo of a clueless looking ewe with a chair on its back, advertised as a "ride on lawn mower, barely used, good condition".

"No time wasters please," he added.

By Wednesday afternoon, almost 1,000 people had added the unusual auction on TradeMe with the "baaaaaaaaaaaaargain" price of NZ$12,000 (S$10,960) to their watchlists.

The vendor answered questions about the auction with tongue firmly in cheek, saying it was for a "sheepish mower all round drive with an automatic grass catcher and a built in fertiliser at rear".

It also came with a "two tooth cutter with another 18 to finely chop the grass down before it goes into the automatic catcher".

While it was a one speed with no gearbox, it was more reliable than multiple gears: "When the engine miss a bleat, this is normal with the auto catcher.

"It was also a kick start model."

Asked if the mower could do an "ewe turn", the seller said: "Ewe can turn it on a head of a pin, with the built in woolie cushion for your safety, if you were to ram anything, you know you're going to walk away from it."

No bids had been placed on the sheep by Wednesday afternoon, with the listing due to close on Sunday.