Removing some Hazards

Cleaning up a Mess

(Sunday, Mar. 16, 2008)

When all those trees came down during the storm in January, this fir didn't make it all the way. When another tree fell across it's trunk, it partially pushed a cedar sideways and then came to rest in a fork of a madrone tree. The wind was really blowing today, and since Mike and his son Doug were cutting up dead and down madrones, he thought it would be safer to eliminate this hazard that might fall and do more damage.

During the storm, these trees fell over the canal onto neighbors Dave and Lisa's place. At the same time they knocked a couple over onto ours.

Mike's getting his chainsaw started. He'll cut away some of the trees that will interfere, prepare cut on the madrone and then cut the fir off at the stump. When it goes, so will all the madrones in the way. One by one they've all been dying from a fungus for many years, so it'll be good to get rid of all the hazards.

Mel doesn't want to watch from a safer place, but the camera gal isn't taking chances. I already saw the trees moving like they're ready to go...and the big fir behind was really waving in the wind. There they go! I can't help but gasp at the sight and sounds when trees fall.

Mike explaining how stiff and brittle they are, and that's part of what determines how they'll fall. What a pile of trash. We're lucky to have him cut the trees, and he gets all the firewood he wants to cut...along with ours. Madrone is the best there is.

Mel's standing between the two woodpecker holes.

Evidently when the woodpecker started the hole on the left, it decided the tree wasn't dead enough so it made a deeper one on the right, but it gave up on that one too. We watched it work on another tree. It would disappear down in the hole. You could hear it pecking, and then it would re-appear and spit out the chips. There was quite a pile of them on the ground below.