When I pulled in the driveway tonight I saw a pheasant standing in the snow about 10 feet from the house. I noticed that it didn't seem very alert and did not take flight when it saw me. Yep, it was dead. Then, I figured that DH stuck a piece of taxidermy in the snow and was inside laughing his bum off as DD and I cautiously approached this marvelously beautiful creature.
It was no joke - - DH found the pheasant just a few feet from the garage door with just a spot of blood on the side of his beak. Perhaps he flew into the garage door, maybe a car hit him and he got as far as our driveway. He wasn't frozen or stiff yet, so his demise was very recent (considering the below zero temps here). He was a perfect specimen, such brilliant color that I couldn't possibly capture.
DD was enthralled with the bird and wanted to hold him and look at him. How many kids (especially young girls) have a chance to experience this up close?
I called my friend who does taxidermy work. He plans to use the feathers for a fly-tying customer. We kept one tail feather for DD to keep - - she was very sad that we couldn't keep him.
3 comments:
You know you're a country girl when...you lay a dead (wild!) pheasant on your kitchen table :)
I know, kinda gross, isn't it? Also, letting my little girl hold a dead bird like it's a new puppy. But, hey, that's life, right? Just go with it!
Wow, nice bird.
I laughed at Kelli's comment until I realized I'd done the same thing (with another large bird), except I used my picnic table. :)
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