Stick Structures

[Guest vilnoori]

I've seen some interesting things out there, and in particular those that involve peeled fresh wood. Sure, they could be quickly mocked up frames for hunters etc. but then, why peel the wood? And porcupines will peel wood, yes, but then will they weave a tee pee out of it? No.

I've also seen very large trees twisted. Sure, we have some wicked winds here in the PNW and I'm not discounting that, but it does always perk up my interest, especially if I also see other indications like footprints, hear humming, hoots, howls, smell some rank odours, see stones piled up in strange ways in inaccessable places, etc. All these things together will make me stop and think, and maybe hunker down a bit and see what I can see. Also, come back later for more of the same.

[Guest dozy]

I've seen some interesting things out there, and in particular those that involve peeled fresh wood. Sure, they could be quickly mocked up frames for hunters etc. but then, why peel the wood? And porcupines will peel wood, yes, but then will they weave a tee pee out of it? No.

There are several valid and functional reasons for peeling wood.

Coniferous, particularly pine, bark will get peeled to access the pine pitch (resin) underneath. The resin is used for a bunch of things, including medicinal concoctions, but is primarily used as a bonding agent -- a primitive glue of sorts. You heat it up to make it pliable and when it sets it sets hard -- albeit brittle. You can make it less brittle by adding charcoal to it. If you expunge all the water from it -- and there are primitive ways to do that -- it can also act as a firelighter.

Birch bark in particular is used to make containers, shelter tiles, protective clothing and transport, among other things. Its uniquely cross-grained and relatively flexible bark makes it suitable for a lot of tasks from small patches (used for cups, tiles and tinder) to large sheets, which were used for building original first nations' canoes (see here if you're interested).

The inner surface of many barks -- but, again, particularly birch -- is used for tinder for fire-lighting. The rain runs off the outside and if you scrape the inner surface up into a powder, it'll take a spark even in pretty damp conditions.

Logs are often peeled in order to be used as batons -- for driving cutting tools (stout knives, usually) through wood for chopping purposes.

The point being: Just because you can't think of a human use for something, doesn't mean there isn't one.

[Guest walkabout]

[Guest walkabout]

[Guest]

Looks like a few trees fell down?

[Guest]

Never doubt what a bunch of kids in the woods can do either. I think its a mix of naturally occuring and kids playing.

What he said, with the added sign I've read when someone drives down a trail one way and encounters a log in front of their path on their way back. Kids? Sure. But the possibility of a thinking primate is what keeps me here.

[indiefoot]

I don't know about X formations, some people think they are pretty squatchy. I found this one that I thought was cool, but who knows. The break was about 6 feet high.

[Guest ChrisBFRPKY]

One of my favourite subjects.

Here is the deal. I live in England, there are no bigfoot here whatsoever. No bears either, in fact, the biggest thing in the forest behind my house is muntjac.

So, eight years ago, in the forest behind my house in England, I photographed a number of these stick 'formations' and 'tree breaks' where trees had been 'snapped off' 8ft off the ground - just like the photos of stick formations and tree breaks I have seen from all over the USA.

The conclusion therefore is that either bigfoot is alive and well in a small forest in England (which is very, very unlikley), or that these 'formations' in the USA are nothing whatsoever to do with bigfoot. It really is that simple!

That's something for thought Paul, and no doubt 99% of what is commonly seen as a stick structure will likely be either from natural falls or human related activity. The structures that interest me are the ones that are assembled over a period of a few days in remote areas and contain different species of trees/limbs in them. Size of the structure and it's components are also of interest to me. The structure in my pic is approx 30 feet wide, 20 feet deep, approx 7 feet high, and has a large open area in the center. I've been watching this one and another one about 2 miles further in. The one further in, like this one, contains different species of trees/limbs and was created over a few days with small changes noticed every few days. (a new limb added here and there, different species of tree limbs, some species of limbs found in the structure only grow on the river bank approx 1 mile away) Other things like large numbers of biting/flying insects present at the center of these structures tends to make me to beleive there is a connection between the creatures and some of the structures. There are other reasons as well as to why I feel these 2 particular structures are BF related. That's why my interest if anyone else was having a similar experience. I'd love to do some comparison with similar structures elsewhere (if there are any that is). It may end up being a waste of research time but then again, maybe not.

Chris B.

[Guest ChrisBFRPKY]

I've seen some interesting things out there, and in particular those that involve peeled fresh wood. Sure, they could be quickly mocked up frames for hunters etc. but then, why peel the wood? And porcupines will peel wood, yes, but then will they weave a tee pee out of it? No.

I've also seen very large trees twisted. Sure, we have some wicked winds here in the PNW and I'm not discounting that, but it does always perk up my interest, especially if I also see other indications like footprints, hear humming, hoots, howls, smell some rank odours, see stones piled up in strange ways in inaccessable places, etc. All these things together will make me stop and think, and maybe hunker down a bit and see what I can see. Also, come back later for more of the same.

That's exactly my thought as well. It's not just finding a structure, it's finding a structure in an area with known creature related activity and then going back to check on things. Great discussion! Chris B.

[georgerm]

This topic was on the old forum. I hate to see it go so let's start a new thread. What do you think these structures are used for? I've added a pic of a structure I've been watching this year and it's been built up with addition of new brush/limbs, changes almost every few days, some parts get moved around quite often. I beleive some of these structures are used as a day blind and the creatures use them to avoid a direct line of sight. The structures are mostly like large brush piles and tend to show up in the middle of the woods far away from any normal human traffic. I'd love to see some good discussion and pics of other structures to see if any are similar. Chris B.

Sorry, I don't see any blind or stick structure. Take more pictures at different angles. Use the program paint to illustrate the structure.

[Guest]

I think many stick structures could be formed naturally, but have seen a few that really caught my interest. I try to take each one of interest.. individually, and look at how it could have gotten there...naturally. I have seen a large "X" structure that was embedded in the ground, and away from any source it could have fallen from. A tornadic wind.. maybe, ambitious humans.. possible, but why ?

I also ran across a large teepee structure, that was impressive, to say the least. The main support limb was twisted off 8-10' above the ground. If it was done by humans, they would have had to drag in a ladder, and had a chain or strap wrench. Other trees nearby, were not damaged, so freak weather seemed unlikely. Both structures I've mentioned so far, were well off the beaten path in the forest. Don't have any pictures of these, to post here.

The one that made me wonder the most, was not because it looked impressive or odd, at all. It was because it was constructed during an expedition (overnight), where other strange nocturnal activity was also noted. No, I didn't see BF build it...but it does make me think about, what or who did. Beaver activity was around, but the structure showed no signs of being trees that were gnawed and stacked by beaver. I'll continue to keep an open mind, to all possibilities.

[Guest ChrisBFRPKY]

Sorry, I don't see any blind or stick structure. Take more pictures at different angles. Use the program paint to illustrate the structure.

[Guest ChrisBFRPKY]

I think many stick structures could be formed naturally, but have seen a few that really caught my interest. I try to take each one of interest.. individually, and look at how it could have gotten there...naturally. I have seen a large "X" structure that was embedded in the ground, and away from any source it could have fallen from. A tornadic wind.. maybe, ambitious humans.. possible, but why ?

I also ran across a large teepee structure, that was impressive, to say the least. The main support limb was twisted off 8-10' above the ground. If it was done by humans, they would have had to drag in a ladder, and had a chain or strap wrench. Other trees nearby, were not damaged, so freak weather seemed unlikely. Both structures I've mentioned so far, were well off the beaten path in the forest. Don't have any pictures of these, to post here.

The one that made me wonder the most, was not because it looked impressive or odd, at all. It was because it was constructed during an expedition (overnight), where other strange nocturnal activity was also noted. No, I didn't see BF build it...but it does make me think about, what or who did. Beaver activity was around, but the structure showed no signs of being trees that were gnawed and stacked by beaver. I'll continue to keep an open mind, to all possibilities.

That's interesting for sure. I've noticed a large piece of a log in one too that had been carried in from somewhere else, I'd guess it'd have to weigh 300 or 400 lbs at least. Like you mention in your post, some of the things are very unlikely to be done by humans so if we can rule out the natural falls etc.. something has to be causing it. These are great posts! Chris B.

[Guest ChrisBFRPKY]

Chris, I think if you want to study those , you could take photos of the same structure every couple days from the same exact spot. Put those into a slide show and let us see whats happening. If limbs are coming into and then leaving the structure that would be somewhat interesting.

Southernyahoo, if I did that it would seem as though I was trying to convince you of my opinion, I'm not really. I just put the question out there to have a discussion on what others think the structures may be and if anyone else is finding similar structures. So far I think it's a good healthy thread. Some guys are of the opinion the structures have nothing to do with the creatures and given, many may not. After locating some questionable structures in a known area of activity my curiosity is working on me. Chris B.

[Guest]

Well, my car was turned into a stick structure one night, I wasn't a happy guy. Old 70s muscle car panels like mine aren't easily replaced and panel beater's these days tend to only want to do insurance jobs, these old cars are too hard