Are those really cat skins hanging on the power lines?

Cat Skins hanging on the power lines

The short answer is yes. It is a fairly recent tradition as it is only in the last couple decades that there have been power-lines. Before that they flung them into the high branches of trees. But why fling them anywhere and what happened to the cats that used to inhabit them?


It is a relatively silly tradition as traditions go but also a sort of right of passage for small boys. They set out to hunt the poor creatures and do this typically by setting some sort of trap. Once they catch the cat, they kill and skin it, leaving the skull attached to the skin. The boys stash the meat some place for three days letting it dry. Then the smallest of the group of boys attaches the cat skin like a belt and they troop around to houses singing and dancing. The adults make much of them and act afraid of the mighty hunters paying them off with a hand full of rice or other condiments. Then the boys go out someplace in the desert and cook up the meat along with whatever provisions they acquired and have a feast. The ceremony completed, they toss the cat skin on the line.

Please note that in general cats are not eaten they are unclean in muslim tradition but that doesn't stop the little boys. A case of tradition being stronger than religion.