If a tree falls in the forest ...

[DaleH]

... it could KILL you!

Wow, I always read about falling trees and widow makers in historical novels or you hear about it on those Alaskan TV shows, but I guess this shows that no one is immune. It was apparently photographed by a hunter who found the grisly scene, as posted in this month's Mass Wildlife & Fisheries news.

Simply AMAZING if you ask me ...

 

[panFried]

...

Simply AMAZING if you ask me ...

WOW [emoji15]

 

[KMixson]

I have been walking through the woods before and saw trees fall by themselves but have never been real close when one fell.

 

[Jim]

wow! Thats insane!

 

[overboard]

WOW also, what are the odds on that!

 

[Al U Minium]

Lightning strike, never felt a thing

 

[stinkfoot]

No lightning strike, you can see by the necrotic tissue at the base of the tree that it had problems. The deer could have bumped the tree and knocked it over. 95% of tree failures are root related usually due to some type of fungal infestation.

 

[GTS225]

I'm having a hard time believing that deer held still while a large branch broke off and fell on him. I'm not a hunter, and even I know how skittish deer are. The pic might have us believe that that buck just stood there while that big branch broke loose, (making who-knows-what noise), and didn't get alarmed as it dropped out of the sky onto him?
Could be a small handful of reasonable explanations for this pic.
Setup by someone? Injured deer that got away, layed down and died in that spot, and the branch came down later?
Either way, it's all speculation on our part.

Roger

 

[stinkfoot]

You'd be surprised how quietly something like that goes over. Once the base turns to sponge it doesn't make any noise. And that's a tree not a branch.

 

[JMichael]

You'd be surprised how quietly something like that goes over. Once the base turns to sponge it doesn't make any noise. And that's a tree not a branch.

I was thinking along the same lines as GTS225 in that it would probably take too long for a tree standing vertical to fall on a deer before the deer sees/hears it and moves. But, it might have been laid over and hung up in another tree. And it just happened to turn lose as the deer was walking under it. In that sort of scenario, I can see this as a possible outcome. So while it would still be considered a freak or once in a lifetime type accident, it is at least believable.

 

[Johnny]

whatever the situation - awesome photo !! and the forest critters ate good for a week.

I guess I watch too much TV crime shows . . . .
like Gil Grissom says on CSI - Follow The Evidence !!
if a deer can jump out of the way of an arrow in less than one second
when it hears the "string thump" from a compound bow,
I am thinking he had maybe 3-10 full seconds to get away from a loud cracking falling tree.
My thought leans more towards covering up an illegal kill - Remorse?? maybe - PhotoShop?? who knows.

jus my Dos Centavos

 

[pmshoemaker]

great pic, but the deer got stuck under it long after it fell over. I have shot deer who, in their death throws, manage to burrow under things like that and get pretty stuck under fallen trees in this very same fashion. My guess is the deer laid up against it, or was wounded and got hung up as he lost motor control or some such thing. Still very intriguing.

 

[richg99]

An unfortunate but true story from the Houston area...

We had a major storm with some flooding. One of the local churches opened their doors for anyone who needed a safe place. A mother, with her two children, were waiting outside. A branch dropped from a tree, killing one of the two kids, and injuring the mother.

Crap happens.