It’s a good day, indeed, when a startled garter snake and a stunned bat are able to “shake it off” and return to their merry adventures. This is especially true when the cause of their startling and stunning is an elm tree plunging to the ground in an otherwise peaceful meadow.
Tony’s been felling dead elm trees in Rosslyn’s middle meadow. These lofty trees with trunks that fork into canopies resembling large vases thrive in Rosslyn’s fields and forests. Until they don’t. I anticipate that most live for about 35-50 years before succumbing to Dutch Elm disease, a microfungus dispersed by elm bark beetles.
Something about our rainy 2023 and 2024 growing seasons appears to have accelerated the impact of Dutch Elm disease, and about a half dozen trees were completely dead by the end of the summer.
While felling one of these trees, a bat came free from its perch, likely stunned when the tree came crashing down, landing with a shudder in the tall grass and brush. Even when dead elm trees are dense and heavy, so you can imagine how jarring the event must’ve been to a sleepy bat or garter snake.
Fortunately Tony was able to confirm that both the bat and the garter snake were on injured. And with a little coaxing from the gentle man (at least when he’s not wielding a fierce chainsaw!), both critters soon recovered and headed off into wilder environs.
Thank you, Tony, for honoring our wild neighbors and working your way fortify Rosslyn’s wildlife sanctuary!
Did You Know?
Elm wood has a Janka Hardness rating of 830 and is classified as a “soft hardwood”… (Source: dutchcrafters)
What do you think?