Sawyer Rob
Super Member
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink!
SR
SR
She, she ate he.^^ yikes did he see the bottom of your boot?
I'd question that theory. I'm no expert, but I've always been told carpenter ants are opportunists who move into already-rotten wood, never the cause of it.Dead hickory from the carpenter ants. Second one i've lost to them in 3 years.
I won't dispute that. Both trees were similar size and I'm sure something made them vulnerable to the ants. They were just 2 of my largest hickory's and both were chewed up pretty good by the time I got to them for firewood.I'd question that theory. I'm no expert, but I've always been told carpenter ants are opportunists who move into already-rotten wood, never the cause of it.
I'm no expert either, but I've cut a fair share of Red/black Oaks that had tons of carpenter ants pouring out the middle of them, but no visible rot/disease, or damage etc. That being said, I don't remove the stump to inspect access at ground level, meaning there could be some rot or a gap at grade that provided easy access.I'd question that theory. I'm no expert, but I've always been told carpenter ants are opportunists who move into already-rotten wood, never the cause of it.
I let it lay in piles close to where I cut it from for a while before it make it into the wood shed. And yes, the birds love it along with the critters. I have also seen squirrels and chipmunks working at the larve.I'm no expert either, but I've cut a fair share of Red/black Oaks that had tons of carpenter ants pouring out the middle of them, but no visible rot/disease, or damage etc. That being said, I don't remove the stump to inspect access at ground level, meaning there could be some rot or a gap at grade that provided easy access.
I do enjoy cutting these trees in the late fall/early winter as the birds flock to my splitter location for a free meal afterwards. I'm sure the skunks and opossums visit after dark to clean up any leftovers. I try to knock as many out of the log as I can before stacking in the crates. Once they're ready to burn, the ants typically have moved out, but any suspect pieces go straight from crate right into the stove.