What am I bid?

Once stayed at a cottage in Scotland and there to greet me in the lounge was a cabinet full of stuffed birds and animals, can't remember the birds but the animals were badger, fox and a stoat!! Suffice to say spent as little time in there as possible! It's a wonder they didn't have a red squirrel in it, they visited every day.  Am not squemish but sorry not my cup of tea, prefer them alive!  Unless it's a nice roast stag cluck cluck. 

They fetched quite high prices.

For instance, the hammer came down on the swamphen at £160 and on the tawny owl at £150.

For some reason, there seems to be a strong market currently for taxidermy. 

How did a grey-headed swamphen come to be in Lincolnshire?

One is included in the taxidermy section of an auction  to be held at John Taylors of Louth next Tuesday.

Also included are tawny owl, little owl, red-legged partridge, kingfisher, a couple of parrots and . . . ptarmigan!

Apart from the parrots, they doubtless fell victim to the shotgun in less enlightened times.