Monday 30 April 2012

What The.........?



As on most Sunday mornings I like to take the dogs out for a really good long walk. And as it was a reasonably pleasant day , I decided to go look for a strange object that I'd discovered some time back, when I was without camera.

We were very deep in the woods, and I just couldn't find what I was looking for; everywhere looked the same. However, I did find my friend José and two of his dogs, out looking for Morels in a Beech tree area. We nattered for about ten minutes, the dogs played together, then continued on our respective searches.

I eventually found the 'strange object', and, above, is its picture. It's nailed to a tree and is basically a camouflage-painted long metal recepticle, with half a plastic wine-cubi hat, and a metal tail with piece of wood attached.

But what on earth is it?

Ethereal 'prizes' will be awarded for the most feasable, amusing, or even intelligent answers. I do have an inkling as to what it might be (knowing the locals), and anyone coming close to that will receive special admiration.
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31 comments:

  1. It is of course a self-propelled spanking device for short masochistic druids, lost in the woods with only themselves to blame. The receptacle at top holds the money each honoree must pay as part of the punshment.

    My father kept the same device hidden in his workshop I'm appalled to admit.

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    1. So, that's one vote for 'Headquarters of the Franco-Sado-Masochists Club'.

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  2. Bob says it is a truffle trap...I know but I have to live with him!!! I think it is a twirley swing for French midgets,they sit upon the bottom bit as they swing around,the cylinder at the top has a hole that the wind rushes into making a beautiful whistling sound.

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    1. don't be silly....
      it is an "instillation" simply called "WOOD" which is on show in the provinces before it's debut at the TATE MODERN

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    2. I'm now regretting my deleted final paragraph about Damien Hirst.

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  3. An imported Irish device used to measure rainfall. The red lid is to stop it getting wet inside.

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  4. My son (13) who spends time with his Dad in France says it's a shotgun cartridge bin . . . I'm not convinced as this does not explain the tail with wood attached.
    I would imagine a trap of some kind but I'm not awake yet.

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    1. I don't think our local 'chasseurs' are that tidy!

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  5. I think it is something that is not in the forest and there must not be, whether good or harm, I do not know!
    Grüße Jasmin

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  6. It's a Scare-Cro! Not just for scaring Cros but deer too.
    We ventured out yesterday to check the water level in the lake at the bottom of our hill and saw a beaver swimming just under the surface. OK, clearly not a beaver but we are now arguing over whether it was a muskrat or a coypu. I say coypu.

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    1. Scare Cro it did. I didn't like to touch it in case it exploded!

      I'd go for Coypu too. They're becoming quite common.

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  7. A pendula clock made from a giant prize marrow - with a hat on?

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  8. Would it be something for target practice perhaps - but what would the pendulum be for - it certainly is the strangest thing.

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  9. It is made by the French 'Blair Witch'...

    ...RUN!

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  10. My Dad would have called it a "Newfie" weather station. If it's wet, it's raining out. If it's white, it's snowing. If the wooden "tail" is moving, it's windy. If you can't see it, it's foggy out. etc.
    Question: does it make a noise when the wind blows?

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  11. How nice it would be if it contained some wine for a thirsty traveler in the woods.

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  12. It's too early for me to say anything clever, so i'll guess a gravity-fed distilling machine.

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  13. I know what it is! I know ... it's a home-made whatcha ma call-it! How cool is that? :-)

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  14. I shall give my own idea. I think it's a device for distributing maize to wild boar. The boar comes along, nudges the wooden bit (which looks well rubbed), and the container releases a few grains of maize. I did notice a nearby tree that was well burnished by boar, together with a nearby pond; I think the local huntsmen are just trying to keep the boar within a certain area.... I shall make further enquiries. I may be completely wrong!

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    1. I think this is the right answer. I was going to say a wild game feeder.

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  15. I hope I can have some special admiration just for the sake of it - for I haven't a clue, not even the slightest bit of one! Strange thing is, it reminds me of a woodpecker, and I can't even say why!

    (Now I've read the other comments, I've read your solution. Wouldn't it have to be a very small boar to be interested in small scatterings of maize? Or is the contraption quite big and I didn't realise?)

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  16. It's most definitely a weather predictor!

    When its windy the metal tail moves in the direction of the prevailing wind. The strong the wind the more it swings in that direction.

    When its a fine and sunny day it is dry.

    When it is raining, the water drips off it.

    My uncle had a like device on the verandah of the farm house - only his was a piece of rock on a length of string attached to the external verandah roof beam!

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    1. I have to pluck up enough courage to look under the red plastic cap. Maybe I'll find the answer.

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  17. Your explanation is entirely feasible - well done for working it out.

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  18. A scare Cro?
    A fruit fly trap?

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