Another lovely walk near Newmarket with Judith and Jenna (Karen was missing today due to a dramatic - but luckily not serious - badminton injury last night - yes, sport really is bad for you!). Rain was forecast, but in spite of heavy grey skies, it considerately held off until after we'd finished our walk. This dead tree stood out, solitary in a field of green. The structure attached to the trunk is a deer hide: the farmer can sit up there and shoot at deer that destroy his crops. We did see a large herd of deer mooching about in a nearby paddock - sensibly keeping well away from the hide.
Living as I do in a world obsessed with preserving bio-diversity, it's amazing to hear that shooting deer is still a management practice amongst UK farmers. Humph.
@eleanor I know, it seems very cruel. I'm not sure how much they still do it - this looks like quite an old hide - but in some places the deer are treated as a pest like rabbits.
Nice photo,and a frightening story behind it!