Post APzvWS8ryQ49QQEIlc by gemlog@tilde.zone
(DIR) More posts by gemlog@tilde.zone
(DIR) Post #APzlgulpODsrZJnme8 by fitheach@mstdn.io
2022-11-26T12:16:59Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
We came across the severed head of a Sika deer stag a few days ago. There was only the head with antlers, no gralloch was anywhere to be seen. If both were there, it would make more sense. The head looked very fresh.I spoke to the keeper of the neighbouring estate (it was on their ground). He said they employ contract shooters to keep the deer numbers down. However, he was certain they wouldn't leave the head.>>>#Highlands #Scotland
(DIR) Post #APzlzP6LMJEAqoDLjE by fitheach@mstdn.io
2022-11-26T12:20:18Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
<<<That leaves the possibility of poachers. A bit worrying, as it was "just over the fence" from my ground.I haven't heard any shots recently. However, I'm away from the house quite frequently, so, it could easily happen without my noticing.It's a mystery.#Highlands #Scotland
(DIR) Post #APznU6BLql056Zkzuy by fitheach@mstdn.io
2022-11-26T12:37:05Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
BTWI've never heard the phrase "contract shooters" before. Sounds like something from The Godfather.
(DIR) Post #APzndJz3u92gW6PGAy by fedops@fosstodon.org
2022-11-26T12:38:39Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheach certainly sounds like poachers who have no interest in the trophy. Somewhat expectedly with the cost of living increases.Down here we customarily give out "the hunt" as it's called to hunters in the interest of keeping the deer and wild boar populations down. In the absence of wolves they would otherwise get out of hand, eating all fresh tree saplings over winter.With the wolves making a slow comeback now things might be changing.
(DIR) Post #APznwoA9vLgvcKtBBY by Wizardofosmium@mastodon.scot
2022-11-26T12:42:14Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheach I used to work in Gorgie, near Murryfield for those who don't know Edinburgh. We used to have a problem with rabbits so there were times when someone came in to shoot the rabbits. I never thought about it before but I suppose they could be described as a contract shooter.
(DIR) Post #APzoVaEHii36XTOuwa by fitheach@mstdn.io
2022-11-26T12:48:31Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fedops Sika stags have very small antlers. Not a trophy worth having.Poachers wouldn't want to hang about once the shot has been made. If they did want to prep the carcass, then the gralloch would also be there. It wasn't.The lack of big predators is one of the reasons the hills in the Highlands are lacking in trees.
(DIR) Post #APzofAFDBdjcqMP2rA by fitheach@mstdn.io
2022-11-26T12:49:55Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@Wizardofosmium I suppose "big game hunter" wouldn't be appropriate.
(DIR) Post #APzpUnp1nVMYMOmLaq by fedops@fosstodon.org
2022-11-26T12:59:29Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheach you said "severed" - would that mean "cut off" or "ripped off"? I think that would give the clearest indication of whether it was man-made or not.For reference, here's one I found last winter. Interestingly some body meat was still there while the head was gone. I do not know which predator caused it, though I'm inclined to believe they were scared away before finishing it off. I don't think it was a wolf as they haven't been spotted around here yet.
(DIR) Post #APzqkHS611TKYQzroO by fitheach@mstdn.io
2022-11-26T13:13:39Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fedops The one I saw was a clean cut. Done with a knife, or something similar.I quite often come across carcass remains. Animals that have died, rather than killed. The carcass is then consumed by smaller animals that couldn't kill something that big. Foxes and scavenging birds mostly. In some areas stray dogs might be responsible.
(DIR) Post #APzu5nddqJSYK1Ll3Y by gemlog@tilde.zone
2022-11-26T13:51:07Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheach We found a carcass, gut pile etc. at the farm yesterday. No head. Likely someone poached a doe.I hope it wasn't the dopey one that's been hanging around our warming shack.
(DIR) Post #APzvALKUcbjtvS7j2e by fitheach@mstdn.io
2022-11-26T14:03:06Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@gemlog Why take the head?
(DIR) Post #APzvHtAPDJkQth0HIG by gemlog@tilde.zone
2022-11-26T14:04:25Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheach I thought to hide it was a doe.
(DIR) Post #APzvTHK3kAxl04wxMG by fitheach@mstdn.io
2022-11-26T14:06:35Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@gemlog Are you allowed to poach stags, but, not does?
(DIR) Post #APzvWS8ryQ49QQEIlc by gemlog@tilde.zone
2022-11-26T14:06:52Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheach yes
(DIR) Post #APzvekJyGgM87hNQQq by fitheach@mstdn.io
2022-11-26T14:08:39Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@gemlog Because seasons, or what?
(DIR) Post #APzw1SAluRbeUttxZY by gemlog@tilde.zone
2022-11-26T14:12:43Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheach Yes, and things vary around the province as well. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/sports-culture/recreation/fishing-hunting/hunting/regulations-synopsisIt's complicated...I don't keep up, as I don't hunt. I find the ever-changing fishing regs that I do care about baffling enough.
(DIR) Post #APzxRZfqk5U7FHSPy4 by fitheach@mstdn.io
2022-11-26T14:28:42Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@gemlog Me neither.Regardless of the season, the poaching bit is determined by who owns the land, no?
(DIR) Post #APzxdRcmUoLfktgMMq by gemlog@tilde.zone
2022-11-26T14:30:47Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheach Here the word also applies to 'out of season' which rules are done for management reasons.Crown land or your land, it's illegal, call it what you like.Here anyhow.
(DIR) Post #ASX4SMxCFeBzvb8KbA by fitheach@mstdn.io
2023-02-10T09:36:50Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
UPDATEA while ago I spoke to the "contract shooter", he claimed the stag's head was nothing to do with him. I had to accept that statement.However, last week things took a turn for the (even more) bizarre. There is a particular area on this walk where #Gruoch always pays particular sniffing attention. One day, I noticed why. Three stags heads had been thrown into three neighbouring trees. They'd been there long enough for only bones & antlers to be left.Shades of The Wicker Man,
(DIR) Post #ASX58pS2gkkqTRo85g by fitheach@mstdn.io
2023-02-10T09:44:36Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
I just hope I'm not the Edward Woodward character.
(DIR) Post #ASX752BlaZB4jEVrxQ by Glencoe@mastodon.scot
2023-02-10T10:05:17Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheach No animals were harmed in production of this coat hanger. Antler found lying on a hillside.
(DIR) Post #ASX7QWNAYpkYQK5meu by fitheach@mstdn.io
2023-02-10T10:10:02Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@Glencoe I thought about buying one like that, but, it was too deer.
(DIR) Post #ASXHqHupvuxuemlVAG by gairsty@fosstodon.org
2023-02-10T12:06:50Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheach that is odd. A few years ago, whilst out walking the dog, we found a tree that had about half a dozen fox corpses thrown up into it. It completely freaked me out! I grew up on a farm, and am fairly unfazed by such things, but a tree full of dead foxes was the oddest thing ever.I presumed it was people killing them for "fun" as there were no livestock farms in the vicinity.Nowt as queer as folk.
(DIR) Post #ASXrbNVqRFIi1OGVRQ by fitheach@mstdn.io
2023-02-10T18:47:20Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@gairsty I know foxes are quite common, even in cities, but, six in a tree is quite something.Is throwing corpses into trees a thing?
(DIR) Post #ASY3WcohJGY1UKaEXg by Wizardofosmium@mastodon.scot
2023-02-10T19:56:30Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheachI've seen wildlife programmes where leopards drag their prey up trees. @gairsty
(DIR) Post #ASY4JhuFAy57Sja8A4 by fitheach@mstdn.io
2023-02-10T21:09:55Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@Wizardofosmium Do you know, I haven't seen a leopard here for years?@gairsty
(DIR) Post #ASYB2bnpRjOfPwGZLU by athairbirb@mstdn.social
2023-02-10T21:12:54Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheach eagles maybe?
(DIR) Post #ASYKNRYRdv73In51s0 by fitheach@mstdn.io
2023-02-11T00:09:52Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@athairbirb Might be, eagles with big knives. 😃
(DIR) Post #ASYLAPYPrx1nHsPsKO by gairsty@fosstodon.org
2023-02-10T23:24:11Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheach maybe it's a variation on the throwing pairs of shoes onto telegraph wires thing? 🤔
(DIR) Post #ASZ5K15AIzUOB1Finw by fitheach@mstdn.io
2023-02-11T08:55:59Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@gairsty Must be an easier way to send Morse code.
(DIR) Post #ASZ5oy9nEQQY55B0wS by athairbirb@mstdn.social
2023-02-11T09:01:16Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheach their talons are like having knives for feetWas thinking they may just be taking the heads from already ddeceased beasts
(DIR) Post #ASbFdzsFtXNs4xIfRo by fitheach@mstdn.io
2023-02-12T10:00:46Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@athairbirb I'm pretty certain this is a human endeavour. Although, eagles dive-bombing the area with severed deer heads does have a certain attraction. 😃
(DIR) Post #ASrufQBmkM48dIakXg by fitheach@mstdn.io
2023-02-20T10:56:04Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
The saga continues...#Gruoch found a Sika deer leg (lower part). It was a few hundred metres from the severed heads. Quite fresh, probably less than a few days old.
(DIR) Post #ATyODYxfBzxKZ4dwC8 by fitheach@mstdn.io
2023-03-25T11:20:55Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Immediately upon starting the walk, I found these, and knew there had been some recent activity.For those interested, they were .243 Winchester cartridges.
(DIR) Post #ATyODbisvOuv86kg4m by CattleBaron@noagendasocial.com
2023-03-25T11:47:44Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheach id think as locked down on firearms as you area is, that all guns are fired and brass stored at a law enforcement repository for future matches. Did u save the brass?
(DIR) Post #ATyODchrGhgqBDHN7A by fitheach@mstdn.io
2023-03-25T11:35:01Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
It didn't take long for more concrete evidence of deer hunting to be found.The head hadn't been there for that long. The eyes are usually the first part to be eaten by scavengers. I suspect the head had fallen from a vehicle travelling down the track.It is getting to the stage where I can't go for a walk here without stumbling over some dead deer parts.
(DIR) Post #ATyOmPCZTDJaQoELJY by fitheach@mstdn.io
2023-03-25T11:53:59Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@CattleBaron Firearm certificates for hunting rifles are still fairly common.Yes, I retained one of the cartridgesas a momento. I left the head. 😃
(DIR) Post #ATyP1Jim846FmGP6nI by CattleBaron@noagendasocial.com
2023-03-25T11:56:44Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@Wizardofosmium @fitheach the job tends to be called "government sharpshooter" or "federal sharpshooter"Can also be just citizens under contract and not full time government employeesOfficial title might be "animal damage control officer"https://news.yahoo.com/mass-town-hires-federal-sharpshooters-222515264.html
(DIR) Post #ATyP4MRGTvOT4gfIEy by CattleBaron@noagendasocial.com
2023-03-25T11:57:17Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheach i dislike poachers.
(DIR) Post #ATyPJrF6EhfixFMeCO by CattleBaron@noagendasocial.com
2023-03-25T12:00:05Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@fitheach should have at least grabbed the horns, if they are like whitetail or muley deer horns they are the best things for dogs to chew on..cleans their teeth.I make bullwhip or knife handles out of them.
(DIR) Post #AU0kGNhM6xNBoFgTzc by fitheach@mstdn.io
2023-03-26T15:04:07Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@CattleBaron #Gruoch likes chewing on Red Deer antlers, not so interested in Sika deer antlers.https://mstdn.io/@fitheach/101846165518597060