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One morning last week I went on a stick search - looking for potential cane shanks - and brought home three - tree specie uncertain - but maybe Sugar Maple, for they were laying on the ground near a Sugar Maple tree. However, I have no way to establish if any of them fell from that tree nor how long they had been laying there.
Before bringing limbs/branches/sticks home I almost always give them my own personalized tensile strength test - holding the top, I jab the narrow end into the ground. If it wobbles, shakes, rattles or rolls it doesn't quality and I toss it aside. Canes must be solid.
This stick qualified, so I brought it home, and put it inside my "look at these later" bin in the garage. Early Sunday morning, three days ago right now, the temp fell to single digits . . . and that is key information.
Several other things caught my eye about this stick. A lot of the bark was loose or had rotted and fallen away - good! Bark removal task done? GREAT! And I noticed some very interesting "critter tracks" on the bare spots. Hmmmmm. The next day, I took this stick, plus the other two, to my miter saw to cut it to a usable length and decided 40" would work. (Pic 1)
Last evening I brought it inside to attempt removing the rest of the bark, using my 1/4" wood chisel just by working it under the loose bark. (I had my recliner and lap fully covered with an old blanket.) But first I wanted to capture a close-up - (Pic 2) - of those very intriguing (to me) critter tracks.
Working my way toward the smaller end of the stick is a "union" section where two smaller limbs once lived. Note the before and after pics 3 and 4 - then 5 and 6.
Those markings appear to be almost Oriental - I really wondered what could have made those tracks in the shank of the stick just below the bark. And further, did the critter cause the bark - normally attached to the shank - to die and fall off or did the bark expire (I have such a way with words) because it was laying on the ground for 6-7 years, etc. Again, I have no way of knowing.
Then it happened. I've been doing this stick-cleaning-preserving-fun-stuff for more than three years and this is a first. As I pried up one section of bark with my wood chisel a small insect - approximately the same size as a grain of rice - came crawling out. I'm color blind but I'm guessing it was brown or red - not black or white. <that's a joke!> I SHOULD have taken a picture but had smashed it into the stick before that possibility crossed my mind.
Now this. Had I left that piece laying on the ground, or out beside my garage, those sub-zero temps probably would have slain that little critter. Right?
Further, there may be other little rice/sized/brown/red critters residing there.
Out in the garage.
(In the event you guys did not capture the full implication, I'm not doing any more "rotten bark removal" inside the house. Got that? I kinda like being married.)
If any of you wanna take a stab at identifying the tree specie and/or the little critter, help yourself. I've already told you more than I truly know.
I'll check back later.
Thanx
-neb
Before bringing limbs/branches/sticks home I almost always give them my own personalized tensile strength test - holding the top, I jab the narrow end into the ground. If it wobbles, shakes, rattles or rolls it doesn't quality and I toss it aside. Canes must be solid.
This stick qualified, so I brought it home, and put it inside my "look at these later" bin in the garage. Early Sunday morning, three days ago right now, the temp fell to single digits . . . and that is key information.
Several other things caught my eye about this stick. A lot of the bark was loose or had rotted and fallen away - good! Bark removal task done? GREAT! And I noticed some very interesting "critter tracks" on the bare spots. Hmmmmm. The next day, I took this stick, plus the other two, to my miter saw to cut it to a usable length and decided 40" would work. (Pic 1)
Last evening I brought it inside to attempt removing the rest of the bark, using my 1/4" wood chisel just by working it under the loose bark. (I had my recliner and lap fully covered with an old blanket.) But first I wanted to capture a close-up - (Pic 2) - of those very intriguing (to me) critter tracks.
Working my way toward the smaller end of the stick is a "union" section where two smaller limbs once lived. Note the before and after pics 3 and 4 - then 5 and 6.
Those markings appear to be almost Oriental - I really wondered what could have made those tracks in the shank of the stick just below the bark. And further, did the critter cause the bark - normally attached to the shank - to die and fall off or did the bark expire (I have such a way with words) because it was laying on the ground for 6-7 years, etc. Again, I have no way of knowing.
Then it happened. I've been doing this stick-cleaning-preserving-fun-stuff for more than three years and this is a first. As I pried up one section of bark with my wood chisel a small insect - approximately the same size as a grain of rice - came crawling out. I'm color blind but I'm guessing it was brown or red - not black or white. <that's a joke!> I SHOULD have taken a picture but had smashed it into the stick before that possibility crossed my mind.
Now this. Had I left that piece laying on the ground, or out beside my garage, those sub-zero temps probably would have slain that little critter. Right?
Further, there may be other little rice/sized/brown/red critters residing there.
Out in the garage.
(In the event you guys did not capture the full implication, I'm not doing any more "rotten bark removal" inside the house. Got that? I kinda like being married.)
If any of you wanna take a stab at identifying the tree specie and/or the little critter, help yourself. I've already told you more than I truly know.
I'll check back later.
Thanx
-neb
