Check yourself before you wreck yourself

[G.L.P.]

You just keep hugging those trees. One of my worst nightmares is Greenlespaul getting squashed with a tree. I just hope we're alone so I don't have to split the gear.

Do pine beetles only go after pine trees or are other tree suspect?

HAHAHAHA .....man...do i feel the love

[gunner76]

I have some big pine trees in my back yard I will not hang from as they tend to lose their limbs in a heavy wind and one of them has a "big" broken branch hung up in the other branches. I do not want to under it when it does decide to drop.

[Dutch]

I have some big pine trees in my back yard I will not hang from as they tend to lose their limbs in a heavy wind and one of them has a "big" broken branch hung up in the other branches. I do not want to under it when it does decide to drop.

That's what I watch out for. That and dead tree tops on windy days. I was hunting one time after a big ice storm and a tree top fell right beside me. Now I try to be aware of my surroundings in nature and out.

[Carver]

There are many different species of pine bark beetles plus the bronse birch borer, ash borer, etc. Many of the different bark borers attack just certain tree species and not others. In most cases, the trees are not directly killed by the beetle but rather the disease that the beetle carries. A healthy tree can often pitch out the bug but one that is stressed can not. In some cases you have to cut into the bark to determine if the tree is infected for there are few outside indicators.

[JohnSawyer]

The local mountains surrounding San Diego have been under attack from imported bark beetles for some time. For several years now, areas in Julian have been nearly completely devoid of pine trees.

Since 2004, the Gold Spotted Oak Borer has been infesting areas in San Diego county, and so far, has killed more than 10,000 trees.

On top of that, drought has really stressed the local forests, so I don't think we've seen the last of the die-offs.

The only good news? I found a few pine saplings around the pine hills area. (I really wasn't looking...)

Hopefully, these will stay healthy enough to survive to maturity...

John

[BillyBob58]

From the article: "approximately 90,000 trees a day fall in Colorado"

That's hard to wrap your head around. Be careful out there.

Mind boggling figure! Also very sad also. All of those beautiful trees falling not due to man and forestry, but due to the beetle. I know that's nature, still su*ks. There are a lot of dead and dying trees in the Rockies.

This is why I always pick the smallest possible trees that get the job done. If possible, which is not always the case.