Great Uncle Fred? Why do game-keepers hang dead crows on fences? (Anonymous, Autumn 2010)

I think game-keepers do this much less than they used to but it does still happen. Dead weasels and stoats are among other species that find themselves being strung up along barbed-wire fences. It's not very delightful and has no deterrent effect whatsoever. A crow, flying along, spots his dead brother on a fence and just carries on doing whatever he's doing. Same goes for the weasel. But it does show that the game-keeper or rabbit-catcher or whoever is doing his job. It gives him a sense of achievement and proves, particularly to his employer, that he has been doing something. Game-keepers are mysterious creatures themselves and no one knows precisely what they get up to. The dead crows are for show.

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