a row of right angle bent trees

[littleneckhalfshell]

The area is the northern catskills of NY, while out hunting I ran across a series of right angle bent trees.
They are bent 90 degrees about a foot off the ground and then there is another right angle bend about
another foot to bring them to grow straight up. Now I have seen trees like this before, but there must
be a half dozen of them at least. They are all bent in the same direction. They are all in a row maybe
about three or four feet apart from what I remember. Diameter of the trees is small, maybe only 4 or 5
inches, some kind of pine or cedar. Any idea what this might be? Just a survey line? or pointing to
something else?

 

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[Shortstack]

With the diameter of those trees being so small, I would think that they're pretty recently trained; maybe no more than 20-25 years.

 

[truckinbutch]

With the diameter of those trees being so small, I would think that they're pretty recently trained; maybe no more than 20-25 years.

My take as well . I've seen them several hundred years old and some much younger .

 

[Smee]

The area is the northern catskills of NY, while out hunting I ran across a series of right angle bent trees.
They are bent 90 degrees about a foot off the ground and then there is another right angle bend about
another foot to bring them to grow straight up. Now I have seen trees like this before, but there must
be a half dozen of them at least. They are all bent in the same direction. They are all in a row maybe
about three or four feet apart from what I remember. Diameter of the trees is small, maybe only 4 or 5
inches, some kind of pine or cedar. Any idea what this might be? Just a survey line? or pointing to
something else?

Maybe a pic??

I have found trail trees down to about 10", but nothing smaller. Then again, the rate of growth is altered by the process used to create the trees (similar to the process used to produce those 800 year old Bonsai trees, only about 1.5" in diameter) as well as the altitude at which the trees live. Also, there are others who may have created these trees other than Native Americans. Could have even been some kids playing who had knowledge of the trees from grandparents or parents.

Think outside the box of our normal manner of thinking. Pointing to . . . not necessarily. What we consider to be "pointing to" is sometimes "pointing away from" when it comes to these trees.

One interesting find, while looking for these trees, was a "circle" of these trees I found. They were all quite young, but someone had built a circle with all the trees pointing out from the center. I had a bad feeling when I found it, like I was being watched, and haven't been back since. It was about 20 yards off of our property, but behind some heavy underbrush. The area was cleared in the entire circle, with hardly any grass.

 

[diggemall]

As often as not, mother nature does this as well. A layer of dense snowpack is on the ground, followed by a heavy wet snow than bends the tops of young saplings horizontal. They get 'held' that way long enough for the bend to 'take'. When the tree starts growing again the following spring, the new growth heads straight up off the end of last seasons stiffer growth and you get a tree with a couple 90-ish degree bends in it. Seen plenty of these in the woods in northern wisconsin

Diggem'

 

[ivan salis]

snow pack bending them as above ---straight line strong wind storm can damage young trees bend em over --warp em -- then as they recover they "correct" themselves and grow "straight" upwards as nature intended them to. --- or they could be man made -- at that size they would be recently done however.

 

[goldguru]

snow pack bending them as above ---straight line strong wind storm can damage young trees bend em over --warp em -- then as they recover they "correct" themselves and grow "straight" upwards as nature intended them to. --- or they could be man made -- at that size they would be recently done however.

Nice post Ivan/Diggem my thoughts exactly

 

[cw0909]

littleneck, when you said,
Diameter of the trees is small, maybe only 4 or 5
inches, some kind of pine or cedar.
what did you mean by diameter, did you really mean circumference
i found some info on how to tell,the age of a tree, by using the steps below.
i have an old i think white oak tree in the park behind my house, i see it from my window everyday
i did the steps below, for my tree and the tree has a 160" circumference, so moving on to
step 3,the Diameter of my tree is, 160"/3.1416=50.92. the chart only goes to 39",but add in 20 more
from the 20" line, and averaging (not sure i should do that), my tree is 159+298=457years
their are several more older walnut, sycamore, oak, cottonwood,ash, in the park also
though most look to be 100 years or less, this land was always wooded till, sorry forgot his
name donated it for a park in the 1940s or 50s


oh yea i think the tree is about 50-60 feet tall



Here's how to calculate a tree's age. Warning: It helps to have a little botany background and some math
skills!

1. ID the tree species (a tree field identification guide will be helpful).

2. Measure the tree's circumference with a tape measure. Wrap the tape around the tree at chest height
(about 4-5 ft up) to produce an accurate measurement.

3. Divide the circumference measurement by pi (3.1416) to yield the tree's diameter.

4. Check the chart (below) to determine the specimen's age.

Was your tree starting out life as DuSable was building the first cabin in Chicago in 1779? Or when
Illinois was just becoming a state in 1818? Or was it sprouting from an acorn when engineers reversed
the Chicago River in 1900?

This measurement technique is about 90% accurate for forest-grown trees listed on the chart.

info and link to chart
http://treetalk.mortonarb.org/areas-of-interest/do-you-know/how-to-tell-a-trees-age/556/

 

[Smee]

That method works wonderfully accurately . . . with trees that have not been modified.

The Mountain Stewards Trail Tree Project, on the other hand, has actually CORED some trees with diameters smaller than you mention which predate the Constitution of the United States of America.

Think too of the Bonsai trees, trunks smaller than a woman's wrist, documented to be some 800 years old. How?

Modification of a tree, not just "environment", affects the rate of growth.

As for the trees being damaged by ice storms and such . . . definitely. However, you need to know what to look for to determine whether the tree's growth pattern is the result of nature or nurture.

If the trees have certain markings, showing HUMAN intervention in their growth (i.e. what are called "thong marks") then they are not the aforementioned "casualty trees" caused by nature. A thong could be a leather strap, or a forked tree branch used to shape the trees' right angle bends.

Without a good picture though, it is difficult to say.