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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be shocked someone hung dead pheasant on my front gate

232 replies

annoyednow · 13/10/2013 21:14

Opened my front gate around 10minutes ago to let cat in and there was something hanging on the front gate. I am in pj's, so husband went out and there was a dead pheasant hanging from string from our front gate. We live in London.

I don't know if it was some prank by kids or something sinister.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 13/10/2013 21:45

I may have been misunderstanding the news reports on London's rising tide of gang violence, but I don't think pheasants tend to be involved.

True Grin

Now had it been a pair of trainers with the laces tied together...

DropYourSword · 13/10/2013 21:45

If it is gang related, clearly they're not pheasant pluckers, so beware!

Amandine29 · 13/10/2013 21:45

You need to tell us more. Was it in good condition and was it hung by it's feet?

AmberLeaf · 13/10/2013 21:46

But if you were trying to be 'traditional' you would stick to the 'hang it on the gate' thing.

ScarerStratton · 13/10/2013 21:46

Judging by the past week's weather, and having to wade through my back lobby yesterday, you could well be right, Hazel Grin

AmberLeaf · 13/10/2013 21:46

Good point Mogz.

GrendelsMum · 13/10/2013 21:47

My guess is that it's a gift but they got the wrong house.

A pheasant is definitely a gift.

The neighbours who incorporated a dead crow into their entry for the 'best scarecrow' competition - not so much.

YoureAllABunchOfBastards · 13/10/2013 21:48

Arf at Pheasant Pluckers!

thenightsky · 13/10/2013 21:49

Definitely a gift OP. Although there should really be a brace.

Enjoy.

KepekCrumbs · 13/10/2013 21:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

KepekCrumbs · 13/10/2013 21:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TeaAddict235 · 13/10/2013 21:51

I'd leave a message at the gate for the people who left it, saying
"thankyou for our gift. If however, you are missing a pheasant, please knock and you will receive a roasted leg".

Pheasants are considered a roasted delicacy in mainland europe. There are some really good recipies online for pheasant.

We're in Bucks if anyone wants to leave us any of the following (cooked or raw):

Pheasant,
duck,
Goose,

Can't seem to find any of these in the supermarkets for christmas.

ScarerStratton · 13/10/2013 21:52

Half a gift, then. Slightly off, only leaving half a brace, hour mystery donor is obviously a shite shot.

delasi · 13/10/2013 21:54

Caja I think this would be a whole other kind of AIBU if the OP had found a dead peasant on her gate... Grin

Growing up and still living in London myself I'd find that super odd, but just that - odd - as in, perhaps someone thought it would be funny, or got the wrong house.

Where I grew up gangs didn't 'mark' targets and they most certainly didn't hang dead animals as a sign. Most gang violence was with other gangs, so unless you suspect you are encroaching on the turf of some particularly rough hunters I wouldn't worry about that.

As for voodoo, a lot of the related practice in London is within families and close-knit communities that come from regions (particularly West Africa) where it is more common practice and tends to involve trying to exorcise people from demons. If that were the case here, it would involve more than hanging game from your gate.

Original poster
annoyednow · 13/10/2013 21:54

As it is not a gift, has anybody any explanation why it was put there? Is it just a random creepy prank or something even more creepy. I'm completely at sea.

OP posts:
AmberLeaf · 13/10/2013 21:56

Really don't worry OP.

It is likely to be a misplaced gift.

I can't think of any 'creepy' reason why someone would do this.

trixymalixy · 13/10/2013 21:57

Thank God I don't live somewhere that a gift of a pheasant is seen as a creepy voodoo gang mark Hmm.

GrendelsMum · 13/10/2013 21:57

But why don't you think it's a gift left at the wrong house? If I found a pheasant on my gate, I'd guess a neighbour had left it for us and hasn't had any paper to write a note on.

trixymalixy · 13/10/2013 21:58

And it's probably not a good idea to dump it in some other unsuspecting persons bin and then report it to 101, it'll be fairly obvious you dumped it if they then report it.

EndoplasmicReticulum · 13/10/2013 21:59

Other explanation - gift for someone else in your neighbourhood. Gift-giver got the wrong house.

Surely more likely than voodoo?

Original poster
annoyednow · 13/10/2013 21:59

Even if it was a gift for someone else, it would have been left near house, not on front gate, street side.

I didn't inspect the pheasant. Husband put it on pavement outside first and then bagged it and put it in street bin on the next road. I was quite eager to get it away from us in case it was singling out the house in someway. Bit unnerved.

I could see it had straw coloured twine.

OP posts:
trixymalixy · 13/10/2013 22:00

What a bloody shame, pheasant is lovely!

Donkeyok · 13/10/2013 22:01

I think its a pissed person gifted it to you.
Can't imagine a gang spending money and shopping at naice butchers for the bird Grin or da voodoo

I don't think I'd eat it though.

Original poster
annoyednow · 13/10/2013 22:02

We didn't put it in someone else's bin. We put it in a street bin.

OP posts:
GrendelsMum · 13/10/2013 22:02

Well it would have been more sensible to leave the bird on the doorstep, I agree, but it still doesn't sound very scary.

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