Widow Makers

11x11x said:
"Stay Alert, Stay Alive"

Make a practice of observing your entire environment.

Take great caution during winter, snowy weather.

I've started to examine trees more closely. And am devolping an eye for trees pocked by beetle holes, or a pine leaning to an extreme degree, and has scarring/damage around the base of trunk. Or the branchs that are dead, and awaiting to fall.

.......


So fimiliarize yourself w/ the area in which you travel.
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Very well put :thumbup::thumbup:

The only thing I can add is to also kep an eye out for hung up limbs (esp in Eucalypt forrests :D )
Drysclerophyllforest.jpg




Kind regards
Mick
 
Don Rearic said:
They just had a Catholic Priest in Maryland a couple/few days ago get out of his car to move part of a tree that had fallen and another one got him. Well, Catholic Priests don't have Wives, so I guess it's something else when it hits someone who has taken a Vow of Chastity. 8-)

Last year, again in Maryland, a little kid saw one coming down and pushed his younger brother out of the way and it hit him and killed him. The branch killed the older brother that saved his younger brother, I heard it on the news and damn near cried. No greater love...
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In addition to the poor Priest, a toddler was critically injured by a falling tree limb. The areas wind gusts were measured up around 60mph. Whoever said avoid woodswalks when it is windy gave excellent advice. A few years ago my parents had just finished up some yard work and had been inside less than 2 minutes when they heard a loud crash. A large limb fell off a Tulip Poplar (maybe 100ft tall) and TOTALED two of the three trucks in the driveway, the third suffered extensive damage but was reparable. An Explorer and a Ranger DESTROYED. An Expedition seriously damaged. It happened when a thunderstorm came through the area. Avoid the woods when it's windy or a storm is forecast is great advice. If you get caught keep one eye on what's overhead and in front and seek shelter. Be safe. -DT
 
lazerboy2000 said:
I've worked for a tree service the past 3 summers, and I almost got taken out by a widow maker. We were taking down this big pine tree and I was underneath taking branches to the chipper. There was a branch that was cut, but had gotten snagged in the other branches so it didn't fall. All of a sudden it fell down while I was there, and the base of it grazed my back. Very close call and I'm really lucky it didn't hit my head.
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I also did tree work for one year when I lived in CA. I heard a story about someone my boss had worked with who got hit when someone dropped a Eucalyptus tree and he had his back turned. His leg bones and his skull all ended up inside his rib cage. In other words, he got crushed vertically in a small fraction of a second. Bright side is, I guess, he never knew what hit him. Dangerous job.
 
mattwheaton said:
Don't hike on windy days?;)
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Good advice. :thumbup:

I find high winds bring down most of the weak branches and trees.

The wind also tends to make hearing any noise from the falling timber problematic.

Many times, when hiking in windy conditions, I have returned on the trail only to find the previously clear trail to be blocked by fallen debris.

In the dense wood where I hike there are many trees that have been blown over only to get hung-up it other trees, these are particularly dangerous.



None of this stops me from venturing a field, I try to be aware of what’s around me and am especially cautious during strong wind gust;

...there is nothing more invigorating then hiking on a windy day. :cool:




"If you're not living on the edge, …you're taking up too much space."

Big Mike
 
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