\u00a0<\/p>\n
What we found was the kind of country that I love – wide open spaces, big skies, blissful silence\u00a0and isolation.\u00a0 The\u00a0setting reminded me of the area around Cut Bank, Montana where I grew up.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Tree of death<\/em><\/p>\n So what a shock it was\u00a0to come around a bend in the dirt road by this little reservoir and find such a horrific scene!\u00a0 Someone had apparently shot two Red Foxes, a domestic cat and a Common Raven and deliberately hung them in this tree right next to the road as some sort of a sick trophy\u00a0display.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n First Red Fox in tree<\/em><\/p>\n This Red Fox had been hung by its neck in a fork of branches.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Second Red Fox in tree<\/em><\/p>\n This one was simply draped over a stronger branch, very close to the road and with no obstructing branches between the fox and everyone who was forced to look at it as they came around the curve in the road.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Cat impaled on fence post<\/em><\/p>\n Just a few feet away from the tree, this cat had been impaled on a metal fence post.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Yet another cat in another tree<\/em><\/p>\n Very\u00a0close to the tree of death, another cat in another tree.\u00a0 And just down the road there was a coyote hanging on the fence line.\u00a0<\/p>\n A friend of mine who had seen some of these photos contacted the Humane Society of Utah and their chief investigator asked me for more information about where and when the photos were taken so I made a trip to his office and filled him in on what I knew and provided him with\u00a0most of the images I’ve posted here.\u00a0 He told me that desecration of wildlife laws, among others, had likely been broken\u00a0and that the incident would be investigated.\u00a0 I called him yesterday to check on any progress and he said that the local sheriff and Utah DNR officers had visited the site, took more photos and then appropriately disposed of the carcasses.\u00a0 Investigation is continuing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some may ask why I needed to post such graphic photos and so many of them.\u00a0 After all, wouldn’t just one distant shot of the animals in the tree be enough to illustrate the situation?\u00a0 I don’t think so.\u00a0 My intention here was to shock to some degree, to not downplay the\u00a0horror of the scene, to in some small way help to galvanize the reaction of a small portion of\u00a0public opinion to the conclusion\u00a0that animal abuse, desecration of wildlife and wanton killing should be\u00a0unacceptable and laws designed to prevent such practices should be\u00a0strictly enforced.\u00a0 I hope you agree…<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Ron\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0In late January my friend Mia and I made the drive to the Promontory area north of the Great Salt Lake in a quest for Golden Eagle photos.\u00a0 We did find some eagles but were definitely unprepared for what else we stumbled upon.\u00a0\u00a0 Second warning – most of these photos are graphic and may be profoundly disturbing to some.\u00a0 If you proceed further in this post, please – no complaints about what you’ve seen.\u00a0 You have been twice forewarned.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A misleadingly idyllic scene What we found was the kind of country that I love – wide open spaces, big skies, blissful silence\u00a0and isolation.\u00a0 The\u00a0setting reminded me of the area around Cut Bank, Montana where I grew up.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Tree of death So what a shock it was\u00a0to come around a bend in the dirt road by this little reservoir and find such a horrific scene!\u00a0 Someone had apparently shot two Red Foxes, a domestic cat and a Common Raven and deliberately hung them in this tree right next to the road as some sort of a sick trophy\u00a0display. \u00a0 First Red Fox in tree This Red Fox had been hung by its neck in a fork of branches. \u00a0 \u00a0 Second Red Fox in tree This one was simply draped over a stronger branch, very close to the road and with no obstructing branches between the fox and everyone who was forced to look at it as they came around the curve in the road. \u00a0 \u00a0 Cat impaled on fence post…<\/p>\n![\"a](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/reservoir-7008.jpg\" "\\"a")
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A misleadingly idyllic scene<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Tree](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/tree-of-death-7036.jpg\" "\\"Tree")
<\/p>\n![\"First](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/red-fox-7053.jpg\" "\\"First")
<\/p>\n![\"Second](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/red-fox-7052.jpg\" "\\"Second")
<\/p>\n![\"Cat](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/cat-7004.jpg\" "\\"Cat")
<\/p>\n![\"Cat](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/cat-7016.jpg\" "\\"Cat")
<\/p>\n