Oh my goodness Cellist you just reminded me of a story!!!
Quite some years ago I was sharing a house with a pioneer sister in her 60's who was recently widowed. She was hopeless at anything let me assure.
Well one day I was in the loungeroom and heard all this squawking outside. I ventured out and saw that a magpie had some fishing line on its leg and managed to get itself tangled up on our rooftop aerial. Well a couple of other birds (can't remember what type) were attacking it. It was completely vicious and upsetting. The magpie was killed by these two birds and now dangling dead from our aerial.
Despite being compeltely scared by what had taken place I still felt really sad for the bird. Especially because its mate was sitting on the roof literally crying about it.
Well now what were to do with the dead bird? I was too scared to go up and get it especially with another living distressed bird up there as well. The pioneer wouldn't she was a lost cause. So an elder in his 80's who lived 4 doors up got his ladder out and climbed up on the roof to get the poor thing down. I felt so silly that I was too scared to go up there when this frail old man did instead!