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Tree Manipulation/ Wood Structures: What Is The Evidence?


WSA

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Would anyone here consider a thread dedicated to solely for photos of stick formation variations cataloged by title and number? Something minus comments and comedic cartoons or videos … Just a thought!

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^ one of the coolest reports I've heard lately, let me know if you find the page. 

 

It doesn't seem to be on the timeline posts by the page owner, but couldn't find a quick way to dig through the comments to the page, in case it was posted that way.

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This thread is long-running and pretty trash-free as is, IMO. Comments are helpful for context.

 

I agree, but it would be nice to have more stick formation photos too!

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^^^

All excellent photos HB! When I get my machine reconfigured and acting right I’ll drop some that I have from up here in the Midwest. In many ways a lot of these photos and those posted here on this thread from all points across the country appear to have repeating features and patterns making it most puzzling to me.

 

In your post I see four photos: the center and three photos below.

 

The top center is exceptional and quite intriguing. What does it mean? I’ve seen some like up here. Below from left to right I see a path tunnel of sorts that seems more of a natural making than of animal making but I can’t know for certain.

 

The lower center and right photos are familiar in design to what I see up here as well. Again, I have to ask, what do they mean?  


Hi Gumshoeye, I've been reading and enjoying your posts on here since you've joined. I'm short on time at the moment but I wanted to drop you a line to let you know I'll return and comment.

 

Thank you West T … Keep posting!

Edited by Gumshoeye
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Good Post Guys! (I say that generically and apologize if there are ladies so when I say guys it’s meant to be all inclusive)  Anyone with examples of peculiar or common stick formations in your area please don’t hesitate to post them.

 

Biped - You gave me a great idea, you mentioned azimuth in an earlier post. Harkening back on my military days we learned to shoot back azimuths as a form of intersecting triangulation from known and unknown points for land navigation and topological map reading training.

 

Has anyone ever attempted to use a magnetic or military style lensatic compass to determine if these pointer stick formations do in fact have purposeful meaning?

 

Secondly, would a battery powered leaf blower be useful in the field? On the hot dry days where the ground floor is covered with dry leaves I want to know to know impressions rest underneath the leaves especially around peculiar stick formation finds … The leaf blower units are usually compact and built of light plastic and easily mobile with an hour or two of continuous use on a fully charged battery. Anyone with ideas or thoughts to present on these two points and the one down below I would greatly appreciate it.

 

HB - I agree that path tunnel does appear natural looking but it also appears quite tall. Does it have a well worn path running underneath it? I've seen some ground level nesting spots exactly as you photo depicts but they on the ground with one entry hole only. Usually I noticed a three stick upright tepee structure nearby and or crossed trees in the immediate area. Any suggestions what that would signify?

 

Flashman and Wes T - What do you guys see in your area?

 

 

Edited by Gumshoeye
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Flashman and Wes T - What do you guys see in your area?

 

I'm not sure how many pages back all my pics are, but it's about the same as what you're describing with maybe an exception or two. 3 pole teepee's, bent over tree's (some with branches, some without, some pinned to the ground, some not), Cedar tree ripped out of the ground roots included, hiding screens made from dwarf creeping wire vine stretched between tree's, symbols wedged in tree's, alot of X's. I'll put it to you like this, it was enough to keep an old guy scratching his head for going on 3 years now. 

 

My motivation for sharing the hunting blind findings was to raise awareness. I don't seek fame and fortune, noteriety, or any attention in general. I don't belong to any research organization nor do I have a desire to join or start one. I'm just an average shmuck who somehow got lucky. The hunting blind is out of my hands now and is being reviewed by someone who's qualified to make a determination as to it's maker. At least I hope he can make a determination. (fingers crossed) I'll know more in a few months.

 

Hellbilly, awesome pics!!!

 

Edited by WesT
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Good post Wes T … The bent over saplings, you know the inverted U’s?  The type that seem to rest on the ground in some kind of fashion sort of remind of those crude snare traps. There’s been some banter about the meaning of “X’s†as somehow a territorial advisory but I just do not know enough about them to say one way or another. It’s one of those mysteries that are wide open for a variety of interpretations.   Just pick one.

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I'm not sure what I did there but that definitely was not the pic I was trying to post. I'll try again. Got to figure out how to load it from my phone.

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Flashman and Wes T - What do you guys see in your area?

 

 

 

I haven't actually been out in a while, I kind of lost enthusiasm for looking for "structures" after we had a period of ice storms and high winds a couple of years back, just before having a hiatus due to getting busy and lacking transport. Anyway, that broke the woods up bad, so much windthrow that you couldn't see the wood for the trees as it were. What I was seeing before that was a somewhat unbelievable amount of multistick teepees, which I would have instantly written off as human, had it not been that there was pretty much always breaks pointing at them. However, I've not been able to "finger" the breaks as exceptional either, because not enough rotation on the twists. I wonder if that's because they snap and deform easier, not so fibrous as trees in other areas, so much twist is not needed to deform the branch and make the sign, or it's just not BFs. Then when I do find smaller (More fibrous and bendy!) trees with full turn plus twists, they're not thick enough that you can't say it wasn't young lads, or even bucks antler tangling.

 

Notably, all the conservation authorities in this area and the Bruce Trail club etc, keep entreating visitors not to mess with, uproot or damage the small cedars on the rocky parts of the escarpment, because some are in fact hundreds of years old, (Naturally bonsai-ed) ... these things are exposed, but seem so tough and springy that it's doubtful even a lot of snow and ice, or 100mph winds would do much more than bend them about temporarily... however, they are frequently seen to be damaged, tops broken over, branches snapped/twisted.... maybe the ones right near the dropoffs get some dumbass kids swinging on them, but if they're even back 6ft, that starts seeming unlikely. Then again, there is a prohibition with messing with them, but your average teenage hoodlum jock could do this damage.

 

Also mystifying is the occurrence of small teepee/debris shelter type structures, that are barely big enough for a human 7 year old to get into curled up. Now you'd think if kids were making them, they'd make them big enough for them and a buddy. You'd also think that kids younger than about 7 wouldn't be building dens in the woods. These seem to occur solely in the same areas that get bigger teepees and suggestive breaks. They have lead me to speculate that if they are BF related at all, they might be "creche" or "crib" structures as it were, put the kid down for a nap, protect it somewhat from crows or gulls pecking it's eyes out or coyotes pouncing on it. 

 

Well, my basic research problem is here, maybe only one group circulating the whole area, and I always seem to be a couple of weeks or more behind them, seldom find anything very fresh. Or there's random transients using the greenbelt and chain of conservation areas as a "greenway" between other areas.... but the tide washing over these sands is a good half million Homo Sapiens in the same area, which obfuscates things a lot, plus I'm only getting into the ~25% publicly accessible woodland. Notably, no X structures have I yet found. However, even if boogers come into these areas to feed and I think potentially sleep on quiet weeknights, before holing up in more private areas over weekend, they probably realise that it's all "humany" enough that they're not going to be able to claim it. Where the X structures are anecdotally assumed to be territorial marking. Though I have been suspicious of "access denial" tactics, trees down across trails, and this has happened in late spring/early summer when the berries are ripe, and again late summer/early fall when other fruits and nuts are ready. There is typically plenty of dense cover at these times though, you're in the green fog, see a 10ft circle off the trail, picking your way through it takes an age, so you tend to stick to main trails, try a few game trails, try and spot any interesting crosses, crushed brush, etc, head for where you know the food is and so on. 

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