Dumb Birds of England

Our feathered friends are in general not exactly the Einsteins of the natural world but perhaps life in a gentle land where predators are scarce has made them a little less smart.  For instance:

A sign on a small country church north of Hadrian's Wall:

When walking the the Cotswolds we spent a long stretch of time going around the edge of a private forest preserve.  We kept seeing these odd little stile-gate combinations.  Eventually we figured out that the gate was to let a hunting dog through and the stile was for its master to step over.  The small yellow tag on the post has a number and the legend: Support the Code of Good Shooting Practice.

We stood at this spot for a few minutes and, lo and behold, a pheasant strolled by ready to be shot...or perhaps dispatched by chucking a rock at it!