Tree Mutilation

[JulieJess]

A month or so ago we noticed that several of the young maples along the front of our property looked irregular in shape. On closer inspection we discovered many branches had been cut off, leaving only stubs. This cutting of branches has continued to happen despite lights and a sign, and at last count five trees had lost 38 limbs.

A few more branches are taken every week, and now very high branches are going, necessitating the use of a stepladder. The trees are grotesque and may not survive, and at $200 a tree and four years of growth, this is a huge loss for us.

These are small branches, an inch or so at the large end, and 4 to 8 feet long. The trimmings are taken away, so we’re pretty sure it’s not just malicious vandalism, but that someone is using them for some purpose. (Even the sheriff thought this whole thing was pretty weird.) The leaves had just started to turn, so we’re guessing that maybe someone wanted them for (large) decorations.

So who is doing this? There’s obviously a market somewhere. Maybe an interior decorator or florist. If you see, in your wanderings, pots full of long maple branches with small red leaves, perhaps in a restaurant, winery or hotel, please let us know. Our overwhelming emotion is sadness — that in the wonderfulness of West County there exists a person who would come onto private property and disfigure small trees.

[Braggi]

A month or so ago we noticed that several of the young maples along the front of our property looked irregular in shape. On closer inspection we discovered many branches had been cut off, leaving only stubs...

How distressing!

I've also heard of hydrangea blooms stolen in the Santa Rosa area, but that was several years ago. How lame of someone to do such a thing.

Hope you catch 'em or that they just stop and never come back.

-Jeff

[pp_twinkie]

Kids building a fort?

[Dynamique]

That really is strange. People do odd things "out in the country" for some reason. You're probably right that they are being used for something, because if it was malicious the person(s) doing this would have chopped the whole tree down. They must be attractive maples to have developed such a devoted clientelle!

Maybe it is worth investing in a surveillance camera with infra-red so it works at night, too. You can get something *reasonable* online for about $100. However, getting AC power to it can be a neat trick if the trees are located far away from an electrical outlet. Why can't someone make these things run off DC and a solar array??

If that's more than you want to invest in the problem (and how annoying that you should have to go to such trouble), maybe a fake camera bolted down where it can be seen and a sign to the effect of "this area protected by security cameras" would scare them off. Radio Shack and possibly HSC has fake cameras.

Then again, if the perpetrator is a Waccobb member, then the secret is out!

How distressing!

I've also heard of hydrangea blooms stolen in the Santa Rosa area, but that was several years ago. How lame of someone to do such a thing.

Hope you catch 'em or that they just stop and never come back.

-Jeff

[Del King]

There are a lot of surveliance cameras available that run off batteries. Hunters use them to determine what the wildlife activitie is in a specific area. You may want to check www.Cabelas.com if you want one of these cameras.

[Dynamique]

Del, thanks for the info on the battery-powered cameras! That saves a lot of searching around.

There are a lot of surveliance cameras available that run off batteries. Hunters use them to determine what the wildlife activitie is in a specific area. You may want to check www.Cabelas.com if you want one of these cameras.

[Laurie]

Last year our new bamboo outside the front gate had been cut, with something sharp enough to make a clean cut. Pieces were in the driveway, so I'm not sure they kept anything. The sense of violation and helplessness was profound. Thanks to this 'older' thread I just found, I have some ideas if it recurs.