Ever cut a log with critters in it?

[unclemoustache]

The best one I had was when I was in a bucket cutting out limbs from a dead oak. I cut one of the more rotten limbs and watched it fall to enjoy the explosion it would make on impact, and when it exploded, a squirrel burst forth like greased lightning and zipped away.

 

[olyman]

I've had many run in with varmits and have stared into the eyes of a few. Like Spidey I've screamed a time or 2[emoji1] (snakes really get me dancing) i mean its not everyday you're 100ft off the ground and cut off a chuck off a hollow tree and when you turn back around a raccon, squirrel, or opossum is looking you dead in the eyes.

I've also seen the saw dust turn bright red a few times too.[emoji20]

A few years ago i chopped a Mama squirrel and found the baby in a hollow spot and its eyes weren't even opened yet, so i put it in my coat pocket inside my jacket to keep it warm and one of the ground guys took it home and raised it as a pet. He still has it and named it Julio. Its cool as hell and his dog loves it. He is kinda shy if he never met you but after you give him a grape he'll love you forever. It runs around the house all day annoying his dog and at night he goes and laying in his cage and goes to sleep. Its even litter trained[emoji1]

id think theyd be fun,,but id be REAL leary of the teeth!!!!!!!

 

[super3]

Was cutting a large downed sassafras that had 3 splits running its length and the chips turned red. Possum raised up knocking the now loose split off that no longer had an ass. He was mighty pissed. Being I was bent down to cut the log my head was only about a foot or so from all the growlin, it scared the #### out of me.

He quickly died of lead poisoning.

 

[Zale]

Removing a large tree with a crane. Top is tied off and I make my cut. Top goes away and I realize I am looking at a large mound of fur 6 inches from my face. I cut right above a raccoon. An inch lower and that critter would have been toast. I got down real quick.

 

[chuckwood]

Years ago I was bucking up an oak that was partly hollow in the center. I was about halfway done with the big trunk when my sawdust suddenly started coming out bright red. Never had that happen before and couldn't figure it out until I cut all the way through and the round dropped off. I saw half a squirrel stuck in the center of the round, I had cut right through were it was. I felt badly about it. The poor critter had gone as far up inside the trunk as it could go, trying to get away from the noise and commotion of my sawing.

 

[chuckwood]

Here's a great story about finding critters inside a tree!

http://www.procutportablesawmills.com/wasps_nest.html

 

[ncpete]

I've had many run in with varmits and have stared into the eyes of a few. Like Spidey I've screamed a time or 2[emoji1] (snakes really get me dancing) i mean its not everyday you're 100ft off the ground and cut off a chuck off a hollow tree and when you turn back around a raccon, squirrel, or opossum is looking you dead in the eyes.

I've also seen the saw dust turn bright red a few times too.[emoji20]

A few years ago i chopped a Mama squirrel and found the baby in a hollow spot and its eyes weren't even opened yet, so i put it in my coat pocket inside my jacket to keep it warm and one of the ground guys took it home and raised it as a pet. He still has it and named it Julio. Its cool as hell and his dog loves it. He is kinda shy if he never met you but after you give him a grape he'll love you forever. It runs around the house all day annoying his dog and at night he goes and laying in his cage and goes to sleep. Its even litter trained[emoji1]

Yeah - we have a rescue squirrel, he fell out of a tree next to one I was taking down. He was maybe 5 weeks old when we adopted him. If we can get him litter trained, he will be allowed much more space in the house, but right now he spends most of his time running up and down the walls in the large cage I built him, except for feeding time.

 

[Guido Salvage]

35 years ago I was harvesting poplar logs to have milled. I was bucking them to length and suddenly had red chips. I had hit a nest of squirrels, the young ones did not yet have fur.

After Hurricane Fran in 1996 I was cutting my way out of my driveway when my wife started waving her arms. There was a copperhead on top of the log I was cutting just a couple of feet from me.

 

[ncpete]

35 years ago I was harvesting poplar logs to have milled. I was bucking them to length and suddenly had red chips. I had hit a nest of squirrels, the young ones did not yet have fur.

After Hurricane Fran in 1996 I was cutting my way out of my driveway when my wife started waving her arms. There was a copperhead on top of the log I was cutting just a couple of feet from me.

Did you make the copperhead into red chips, too?

 

[VW Splitter]

I was cutting a hollow log once when the front half of a black snake came crawling out. the back half didnt crawl out. Guess it couldnt see where it was going.

 

[Iska3]

It was dry this past month so I was pulling out a bunch of Ash logs with the ATV

The 800 worked out well because it would ride on top of the swamp grass and the logs were
mostly free of any mud.

After several trips for more logs, I realized that my dog was no place around and soon found her back at my row of logs. She worked on this one log for several hours and wouldn't give up until it was time
to go. Inside one of the holes below sat a little chipmunk..

 

[svk]

It was dry this past month so I was pulling out a bunch of Ash logs with the ATV

The 800 worked out well because it would ride on top of the swamp grass and the logs were
mostly free of any mud.

After several trips for more logs, I realized that my dog was no place around and soon found her back at my row of logs. She worked on this one log for several hours and wouldn't give up until it was time
to go. Inside one of the holes below sat a little chipmunk..

Do you have EAB or did those die of natural causes?

 

[Iska3]

svk, I was talking EAB long before most people, it seemed to hit parts of our area around 10 to 12 years ago and now it's all over. It's sad because people will never cut out the ash fast enough. In the past we only took out the white oak and later the red and burr, now everyone is taking out the ash when it's dry or the ground is frozen. The guy next to us took out 30 or more log cords and now he is talking about getting in a logger to cut and stack his swamp. I've been pulling some out with my 800 and a choker cable for now and that seemed to work well. Three good size logs in the picture will fill my trailer, it will be 1/2 cord. Once I get a trail established, I'll pull a trailer in to that area and load right at the cutting. It's sad to see this happen to the woods but we did this to ourselves. I saw it in the Elm, later it happened to the Birch, then the White Oak, now the Ash and Bass. I'm also seeing it in the Hard Maples.

 

[svk]

It keeps you in good wood, but sorry to hear!

EAB is in Superior, WI but that's as far north that I know of right now. There are some massive black ash with nice burls that I will harvest if/when it gets to me.

 

[Deleted member 83629]

found honey bees felling a hollow sugar maple that was exciting.

 

[pweber]

I put my hand around a tree once to steady myself going downhill, and the bark was moving and felt all squishy. I looked around to see what I'd put my hand in and realized it was a swarm of bees - hundreds if not thousands. I vacated the area rather quickly and ended up with only three stings believe it or not.

 

[TMFARM 2009]

just dropped a few full of EAB a week ago. still have 30 more standing dead.

the second tree exploded off the stump as i started the back cut. seems the center was powder. top broke out and it rained down widow-makers.
now i have a 90 degree bar and chain.

so during my trip to the saw shop, gave me a good reason to purchase a new 590 timberwolf. very nice saw.

 

[fordf150]

We just found honey bees in a downed hickory log. Cut blocking and put under the log on each side of the bees. Took the top and the butt log but left the section the bees were in. Don't see many honey bees around anymore so we tried to disturb them as little as possible

 

[CR888]

We have lots of possums around so I have had the red sawdust spray out midcut a few times. What had me jumping around the most was a nest of huntsman wood spiders....they just poured out of a round running in all directions making me do the chainsaw dance. The worst animal accident was when my arborist cousin accidently fed the customers cat through the chipper. Not a good feeling at all!

 

[huskyslinger]

Love the stories so I'll add 2 of my own if no one minds. Years ago was skidding a snag up over an old root wad, once over we noticed a funny looking furry piece come to find out a rabbit wasn't very lucky! Second one was cutting some really nice fir that the bark was just starting to come off on its own. Bent over saw I caught something out of the corner of me eye and stopped sawing. And like the previous gentleman said screamed like a girl at the bat flying around me. So after going at the bat for 5 minutes getting it as dead as I could I heard a screeching noise coming from the back of my pick up. So like heman pick the block of wood out and proceeded to hurl it at the ground till the bat feel out dead. Hate bats! Horrible little creatures!