Crime scene

 

Crime scene

In the woods a pile of feathers indicates that an attack has taken place. There is no body, no blood, just a sad collection of hastily shed plumage, so there is some hope that the victim escaped, shaken but safe. The feathers belonged to a wood pigeon.

These woods are not used for shooting. In all the years we have frequented them, we have heard gunshots only once, so it is pretty certain that it was not a gundog that caused the feathers to fly, so to speak. Gundogs, particularly young ones, dislike picking up wood pigeons because the birds have loose feathers that can fill a dog’s mouth and put them off retrieving. Someone said that the dog looks as though a pillow has exploded in its mouth! With careful training, the reluctance can be overcome.

So, who was the culprit? It may have been a fox or a sparrowhawk or possibly an enthusiastic dog. We will never know, but I, for one, am glad that there was no corpse. Nature may be red in tooth and claw but I prefer not to see too much evidence of that.