Disappearing sticks?

351 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Sokolva, 1 mo ago

Sokolva

Discussion Starter · 2 mo ago

Hey everyone! This is a pretty unusual topic, but I had five nice pear wood staffs debarked, sanded, and in various stages of finish in terms of finishing and staining, and one of the nicest and most finished of them disappeared from my back yard, seemingly without a trace, while all the other sticks are still there! Is this the kind of thing animals might do, or a curious human? Seems like an odd thing to take an unfinished pear walking stick that is sized for a child, so I find it hard to believe that a human did this. I’ve been looking all around the yard trying to find it everywhere to continue working on it, and finally gave up on the hours I spent on it and moved on to working on the remaining ones. Anyone else have similar experiences and if so, is there a way to deter this? I don’t have a garage, shop, or space to store my projects when it’s not raining, or else I would do that, as I live in a very small space and we are currently renovating.

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dww2

· #2 · 2 mo ago

These days, I wouldn't be at all surprised if someone saw it, decided it was free for the taking, and did so. Had a guy down the road from me make off with an 8 foot log of yellow birch a couple of years ago. I'd cut it to get several cane blanks from the tree and was going back for the rest later but he saw it sitting there and assumed it was unwanted.
Another possibility would be a dog who liked sticks. Our first Boston terrier (15 pounds of ferocity) would bring home yard-long sticks from walks in the woods.

A less likely possibility would be if it was sapient pear wood (like the Luggage in Terry Pratchett's novels) and it walked away by itself.

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Sokolva

Discussion Starter · #3 · 2 mo ago

Hahaha I think the most likely scenario is the sapient pear! They are mighty invasive, don’t ever stay where they are put

That’s pretty crazy that someone would just take a nice birch log from your yard that was obviously being worked on. I get if branches are set out at the side of the road for scrap and are obviously there for the trash truck, but an entire log that’s being trimmed? Those are valuable, especially as hardwoods are great for cooking and fires too, not to mention all the furniture uses for them.

We also do have plenty of loose dogs that roam around the neighborhood so I could see this being the pear staff’s fate. It would be a very tasty and good smelling stick—I could smell the sweet pear resin in the wood as I carved it.

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dangerranger

· #4 · 1 mo ago

I once had a Packrat in my garage. It would steal all kinds of wood. I only realized what was going on when it started stealing projects I was working on. When I found the nest, the rat was dragging a oak yardstick and could not make the turn into his lair. DR

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Sokolva

Discussion Starter · #5 · 1 mo ago

dangerranger said:
I once had a Packrat in my garage. It would steal all kinds of wood. I only realized what was going on when it started stealing projects I was working on. When I found the nest, the rat was dragging a oak yardstick and could not make the turn into his lair. DR

What an impressively strong rat! XD yes, I’m going to put this loss down to an animal friend of some kind, especially as the stick was rather small.

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