68
votes
Accepted
How can I get a GPS location for this tree on a distant hillside?
There are a number of different ways to do this.
Method using GPS, compass and Google Earth.
Get the GPS coordinates of where you can see the tree from.
Take a bearing with a compass to the tree ...
- 69.2k
33
votes
Can removing dead wood harm the ecosystem?
I'll answer this from a perspective of what we follow in some of the areca nut and coconut farms that I've grown up in.
The areca nut and coconut trees shed their branches often. These are similar to ...
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21
votes
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Why do upside down tree leaves mean rain
This is the old saying, "When leaves show their undersides, be very sure rain betides." From the farmersalmanac.com:
The leaves of deciduous trees, like maples and poplars, do often to
turn ...
- 2,770
16
votes
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What kind of tree produces these seed pods looking like spiky balls?
That is a sweet gum tree.
The distinctive compound fruit is hard, dry, and globose,1–1.5 inches (25–38 mm) in diameter, composed of numerous (40-60) capsules.[13] Each capsule, containing one to two ...
- 69.2k
15
votes
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What are these bulges? Are they harming the tree?
It looks like a Burl. They are natural non-harmful (think of them like scar tissue maybe, resulting from injury or infection) deformities in the grain of trees. Both hardwood & softwood trees can ...
- 1,668
15
votes
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What is this tree with a spiral shaped trunk in Massachusetts?
I suspect that tree grew with something else twined around it. That something else has meanwhile died or been removed. Bittersweet is a likely candidate for what might have wound around the tree ...
- 21.4k
14
votes
Can removing dead wood harm the ecosystem?
The answer seems to be that it depends,
Birds, small mammals, and other wildlife use snags for nests, nurseries, storage areas, foraging, roosting, and perching. Live trees with snag-like features, ...
- 69.2k
14
votes
How long after a storm is it safe to go into the forest?
Personally I'd pass through the forest once the wind has died down significantly. I'd go a little more cautiously on a bike, because I wouldn't want to ride round a bend into a fallen tree.
That's ...
- 26.1k
13
votes
Accepted
Which types of animals would peel bark off this tree?
That was definitely a beaver. Nothing else has quite the chewing power of a beaver, for example accoring to Wikipedia, these trees were cut by beavers in a single night.
Based on the color of those ...
- 69.2k
13
votes
Accepted
How exactly do you cut down a tree with fire?
Unless you are building a bridge you don't.
If you don't have the tools to cut it down you don't have the tools to do anything with it once it is down. You are converting it from a big living ...
- 30.3k
13
votes
How can I get a GPS location for this tree on a distant hillside?
Take two compass bearings from two known GPS coordinates but different azimuths. Then just use the formula to calculate their intersection.
Aviation Formulary -- Great Circle Navigation Formulae -- ...
- 155
13
votes
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How do tree trunks get chevron patterns in the bark?
Very cool picture! That pattern must be quite old, I guess. I'm quite sure this tree is some kind of pine, judging by the bark, so this seems to be a remainder of resin harvesting, which was a common ...
- 1,509
12
votes
Accepted
Is it practical to tap a tree for syrup on an overnight stop?
Using some numbers from Cornell's Extension program:
10 gallons of sap per tap in a season is reasonable.
The length of a season varies- Let's say it's 90 days.
The sugar concentration, which ...
- 376
11
votes
Can you eat pine needles in an emergency?
Yes & no. The U.S. Navy land survival training in Pensacola, Florida teaches students to chew on pine needles to obtain vitamin C. But you don't actually chew and swallow them.
- 111
11
votes
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How does a tree with such an extreme curvature form?
That tree got bent over but not snapped when it was just tall enough so that its tip was where the end of the bend is now. One of the small branches near that tip happened to point upwards after the ...
- 21.4k
11
votes
Escaping tree well
Really the key to escaping tree wells is to ski/board/snowshoe with a buddy. I have friends who have ended up head down in a tree well, completely unable to reach their bindings. With every movement ...
- 3,034
10
votes
How to attach signs to trees considering tree growth?
You are probably finished with this project by now, but I'll weigh in with our experience for others searching for this answer down the road.
We were wondering the same thing about how to attach ...
- 101
10
votes
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What is a suitable workflow for cutting down trees?
For the purpose of my answer I'm going to assume there aren't any special considerations like a tall tree on a small lot.
In general I think this is the best procedure:
Cut down one tree.
Trim off ...
- 9,678
10
votes
Accepted
What kind of animal may have done this?
Almost certainly, this is the work of a woodpecker foraging for grubs in a dead and rotting tree: they tend to move methodically up the trunk excavating at intervals, producing the Swiss cheese effect ...
- 3,752
10
votes
How can I get a GPS location for this tree on a distant hillside?
First thing I would try is to see if I could pick the tree out on Google Earth.
https://earth.google.com/web/
In many locations, especially near mid-sized or larger towns and cities, even the tree ...
- 101
10
votes
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I am torn between axe or hatchet, what would you recommend?
Personally, I usually take neither. Instead, I bring a sturdy knife and a saw. The knife wouldn't be replaced by hatchet or axe: it is anyways needed for cooking and it is at least as good as a ...
9
votes
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How do you tap a tree for sap?
Sugar Maple trees are by far the most popular trees that people tap for sap. So I will use this as my example of how to tap a tree. The following is taken from: Common Sense Homesteading.
Identify ...
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8
votes
How to assess the likelihood of a tree falling in a forest?
A few suggestions for reducing the likelihood of an incident:
Sleep in clearings.
Avoid the forest during heavy winds.
Avoid sleeping under large branches: even when the tree looks healthy. I have ...
- 7,491
8
votes
What are these bulges? Are they harming the tree?
I was pleased to see the photos of the burls; it's been some time since I had thought of all of the splendid uses Native Americans and others had found for burls, so I hope no-one minds my digression.
...
- 346
8
votes
How do you tap a tree for sap?
There are a few ways to tap a tree, before you tap you need to know when the sap is rising from the roots to the branches.
I have read about
use a knife to make a shallow cut under the bark, then ...
- 1,778
8
votes
Do sugar maple trees ever flower in the fall in Ohio?
Sugar maples, like other maples, flower in early spring. The flowers aren't very impressive.
The leaves of sugar maple are usually fully expanded three to four weeks after the leaf buds begin to ...
- 426
8
votes
Accepted
What is this tree with shiny leaves and a fuzzy seed pod?
That's a magnolia tree.
I first saw one in Delaware in the dead of winter encased in ice after an ice storm. All the other trees had dropped their leaves, but the magnolia doesn't shed its thick ...
- 53.5k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible