Are those really 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.