Trees cable themselves?

[Jed1124]

I was recently cutting a tree that fell down on a neighbors property. The center trunk from a triple maple fell down from some wind a couple of weeks back. The tree (or trees) were growing out of a rock wall so the roots were pretty shallow. The one that fell was loaded with ants at the base.
I happen to look up at the other two trunks and noticed what appeared to be a limb connecting the two. Is this common? How does the process start. I'm assuming the lower section grew and was absorbed into the higher portion of the second trunk. With the shallow roots, is the tree actually trying to prevent itself from falling? Sounds silly but it had me there scratching my head.:monkey: Please see attached pictures.

 

[Jed1124]

I should have made the title " redheads with big ****s who love chainsaws and the guys that use them" LOL. This must be something common that happens all the time. Anyhow, any thoughts will be appreciated.

 

[Adkpk]

That is totally awesome. I have never seen such a big limb doing that sort of thing. Smaller ones but that is very unique in my book. If that's real I would say your got something there.

 

[Jed1124]

That's what I thought too. I have a white pine behind my house that splits into a double about 30 ft up. I have a deer stand right next to it. I noticed one day sitting there that that tree has what appears to be a brace limb about 10 ft up from where the tree splits into a double. I figured this was pretty rare but forgot about it.
When I saw this maple I thought it was really neat. Just was wondering if this is a common occurrence.

 

[Adkpk]

No, it's definitely not common. It's some freak of nature. Or somebody grafted it that way when it was smaller.