🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Broke Tree Mystery - What Did This ?

[Cariboo5]

A lot of the old trails are grown in and today was no exception and thank goodness for the quads to get to some of the cells
on the mineral claim. I was driving in and came across this sight which stopped me right in my tracks with wonder ( I wonder how that happened )... Broke tree mystery, snapped off at
about the 7 foot mark, no cuts from any tools, just sheared off with the bark strip peeled 4 inches and the sap has hardened. No animal or big foot tracks. Thoughts of what may have
snapped the top off of this tree. All the other trees and willows have no damage....

 

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[DizzyDigger]

You don't say what state/province you are in, but I'm thinking a moose was scratching his head.

Also, the remaining stump looks rotten.....might not have taken much to knock the top off.

 

[Cariboo5]

I am in British Columbia, never thought of Moose but I would think there would be more marks, scratches on
the tree and the rest of the tree, branches and the top part on the ground has no marks at all except for the break.
This is a young tree and in very good health with no rot.... Appreciate your input....

 

[Robot]

Hi
I live in Northern BC and have a problem with Poplar and Pine and my Log Home.
The problem is Woodpeckers.
They make holes and strip off the bark seeking insects, which weekens the tree in a wind.
They can destroy a Log on my Home in minutes.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Robot, those Pileated Woodpeckers are like flying jackhammers with beaks, but it would have had to peck a circle around that tree in order for wind to break like it did.

Cariboo...the more I look at those pics the more clueless I get.

 

[Clay Diggins]

It was probably the guy standing on the ATV. Did you ask him if he knew what caused it while you were taking the picture?
Could be a clue there.

 

[dognose]

There has been some crazy intense weather around the country.

What was the weather like in the area of the snapped tree a few months back? What types of storms and wind?

 

[newnan man]

It was a Bigfoot. Case closed.

 

[DizzyDigger]

It was a Bigfoot. Case closed.

Very well could be. I live in prime Bigfoot country, and they are known to mark their territory.

 

[pepperj]

Wind or a snow load would be my guess.

 

[pepperj]

Robot, those Pileated Woodpeckers are like flying jackhammers with beaks, but it would have had to peck a circle around that tree in order for wind to break like it did.

Cariboo...the more I look at those pics the more clueless I get.

The pair of Pileated that live on the property seem to do a hole from each side of the tree.
They do all 4 sides then it's just a matter of time till it snaps off.

 

[bottlecap4u]

where I iive its common to have heavy ice storms, treetops get and branches, especially conifers get snapped off due to heavy loads.

 

[Cariboo5]

The weather was our first thought as several have mentioned here. This has been a very unusual mild / warm year for us. Hardly any snow (forest fires are a concern now) and mostly above seasonal temps. We had a few days of cold snap down to minus 27. Our thought was that maybe when it snowed or frozen rain this tree snapped from the weight. The strange thing is that no other trees have been broke or damaged in any way and the only damage on this tree is the snapped off part while the rest of it is completely untouched.
Have come across many wonderful things while out in the bush but this for me is the strangest and will rank at the top of the list for unknown. Thanks to all for your comments ......

 

[TORRERO]

A machine like this could do it, although I don't know why or how they would get this where you are.
I know your going to say that these have blades and the cut would be clean, but in fact these cut really crazy ragged as I have seen this on the sides of roads where they were used and the cuts look anything but clean ..... They look ragged and twisted and snapped off..

But I would say more likely than not, a strong downdraft of wind in a circular motion could have snapped it off like that.
If you ever get to see where a Hurricane came through a forest you will see a lot of trees like that..

 

[Cariboo5]

A machine like that would certainly do it TORRERO, however where we are (in the middle of nowhere) there has been no activity by anyone else and no logging in the area...

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[TORRERO]

A machine like that would certainly do it TORRERO, however where we are (in the middle of nowhere) there has been no activity by anyone else and no logging in the area...

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That's why I said that I didn't know why there would be a machine like that where you are 🤣

 

[TORRERO]

A machine like that would certainly do it TORRERO, however where we are (in the middle of nowhere) there has been no activity by anyone else and no logging in the area...

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Maybe it was a "time slip" only for a moment, some bloke was cutting branches on the side of the highway and for a moment he time shifted into your woods for a fraction of a second, but just long enough to shear off that tree and then reappear back in time where he started from ... 🤣

 

[releventchair]

Sure looks punky at the break. With the fallen top still green that seems too soon. Could just be the picture?

Top leader bud on spruce and pine can get a budworm killing it. How or even if that could affect lower trunk ...Isn't that likely.

My first guess would be windshear.
If so your pine should be on the edge of an opening.
Imagine a clear cut or edge of a yard with wind pushing hard towards the open area and the tree on the edge.
You may have noted such. Or any wooded edge or a shelterbelt of fencerow overgrown where a tree tips or fractures.

Leaf out is just starting here.
An oak limb in the yard is split in the center lengthwise. Strange given it is around 3 inches diameter. It's fate awaits.
One ice storm broke a lot of random trunks. Splintered breaks. Some that sap still gets through an edge of. The whys when compared to nearby trunks only hint of unseen weakness or unlucky victims.

Calm day a week or so ago a large oak at a neighbors sheared with a barber chair effect. Solid trunk and solid at the split area , but top heavy. Yet not leafed yet this year!

 

[Cariboo5]

Have to go with some type of weather event as suggested, not exactly sure what type. First time I've come across something like this when only one is affected and everything else around is fine... Thanks to all for your input ....

 

[searcher]

Somebody sighting in a rifle? Many a young tree has been shot down.