Weird, cool stuff you found in the woods.

We need an LOL emoji... oh, wait...

 

That's a leaf from a silver maple...definitely not Norwegian, you can tell from the serrations between the points. Tree is between 15 and 20 years old. The leaf fell prematurely (likely during a wind event) as evident to its still golden colour. I'm placing an educated guess it fell from the south face of the tree due to its pristine condition.

Also, it has not been stepped on nor defected on by a dog...probably fell within 36 hours of you spotting it.

See, I can play Columbo too!

 

South east side to be more precise. And it was the second leaf from the tip of the branch. (wink)

 

Looks to me to be an artificial leaf. If you notice the veins don't line up and the edges are a little frayed.

 

That’s what she said

 

What struck me odd was that the leaf was so pristine - in February... It should have fallen sometime back in the Fall. (and got mulched up)

I'm pretty good with rusty things found in the outdoors but not very good with the outdoors.
I can identify a Maple leaf and an Oak leaf and the Birch tree with the white bark, that is about it.

Spoiler: Extra embarrassment

The only reason I can identify the Birch tree is because a neighbor lady peeled my ass for peeling a piece of bark off her tree when I was about 7...

 

Man, you and I had a similar experience. Although, the snake I received a "dry bite" from was much less deadly. I was bitten by a baby cottonmouth. I won't tell the story because I was being an idiot and someone will say "I got what I deserved".... which is true, but still.

I did take the snake with me to the emergency room, which did not make the lady who was at the counter for intake very happy when I threw it up on the counter in a brown paper bag. I was 14 at the time. Funny thing, they returned the snake to me on my way out in a large glass jar and since my mom was not having it when I asked if I could keep it, I took it back to the exact spot I had the encounter and released it. Wasn't its fault that 14 year old boys are sometime lacking in awareness and intelligence.

 

acer hobbylobbyum was gonna be my guess too.

 

And a tree runs through it




There's a snake in this one


It's semi-springtime, watch where you're walking

 

FICUS !
This one is in Peru but in South Miami there was (is still ??) a bike trail from Cutler Ridge to the Rickenbacker Causeway that was lined with a local ficus that was pretty important to me as a teen. I spent
a lot of time exploring them and the mangroves near Black Point. I think all of that country is developed now. The first fox body mustang I ever saw had been stolen and stashed down a woods road in the mangroves.



another species in Costa Rica.

 

DUNES!
Working/hanging out in North Bend Oregon this week took the rug rats to play in the rainy sand…
I’ve hunted the wooded dunes in the UP. I dragged deer over dunes near Garden and one near Seul Choix Pointe. There are a crazy bunch on the eastern most end of Pictured Rocks too.
Fished for strippers (edit fishing for stripers near P-town is a much different pastime and actually what I meant!) from the pitch pine encrusted dunes on Cape Cod and once changed a diaper in the pink dunes in Utah….

then ended up playing there for a spell!

 

Snuck up on a fox while flagging a clearcut to replant.

 

And another car for someone to identify

 

I assume this is the remains of a mill

 

The picture doesn't show the whole thing but there was multiple levels of it. I'll probably go explore it when I go back this weekend

 

More areas need replanted. I hate clear cut land. I know in some places it's necessary for agriculture (live stock/farm plots) but it seems there's tons of unused clearcuts across the midwest that could be treed. I'm always on the hunt for property and every time I find something big enough its a big empty field. I don't wanna see my neighbors!

 

Think of the possibilities! In that area a recent clearcut harvest, if left untreated, would coppice up quickly and not only offer you privacy but excellent cover and browse for wildlife with little effort. Additionally, they are often the best value as even timber companies don't care for the "look" of recently cutover acreage (on balance sheets and age distribution under ownership). I have done pine conversions in the upper midwest and that takes some time and effort. If you are referring to old agriculture fields, they too require more effort to reforest but i reckon they are also more expensive since they are easier to develop than cut timber land.
There are more than a few watching this thread that could expound....

 

I would say 37 hours, minimum.