The Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service are appealing for information after the discovery of a sparrowhawk found hanging from a gatepost. It had been shot and then strung up with a piece of string.
The gruesome discovery was made along a public road in the Rathkenny area of Navan, County Meath.
Further details and a contact telephone number for anyone with information can be found here.
Raptor Persecution UK 
Ah “The Old Country Ways”…makes you nostalgic for the old days when every gamekeeper had a “gibbet” full of vermin like this, doesnt it?!!…now they are all guardians of the countryside of course…arent they?
Points for the investigator…1. The killer is sending someone a message…2. That bird died very recently, feather perfect, time on photo 9.33, probably shot and strung up that morning..3.killer/displayer is used to handling bailer twine, well tied knot and positioning..4.killer doesnt give a sh*t.
Saw this sort of thing in Scotland far too often…good luck in catching them.
Such a sad, sad photo, will they ever find out what moron did this, what a terrible end for such a magnificent bird living it’s life….
Sick moron that did this, are all our ‘countryside guardians’ as demented as this individual?
Not keen on the way Sparrow hawks eat their prey alive, but the point is they are as much part of the eco system as any other creature, and should be allowed to flourish as such.
I watched a Sparrowhawk eat a starling in my garden, it took almost an hour and it held the bird for a long time, I did think it had squeezed it to death before eating it, it certainly seemed dead when it started to pluck it’s feathers, yes gruesome but it has to eat like the rest of us do.
Barbarians and savages at work.