something strange

[hoosierhiver]

i live way out in the country and not far from me, a turkey hunter discovered an enormous boulder up in a tree.i've seen it, it's about 40 foot up in a big black oak,big as a stove,must way about 800 pounds,the tree is not marred in any way,there's no road near it,it's weird.even weirder,i 've found another one several miles away,a little smaller,folks say there's more.this isn't a rocky area,it's native sand stone but no source of boulders near by.anybody else got weird stuff in their back yard?

[Michael Bush]

Very strange indeed!

[mark williams]

Hoosier:check &see what you have in your smoker,(L.o.L.)......mark

[Dave W]

Greetings . . .

I have seen rocks (the size you might place on top of your hive) placed in the crotch of a tree. I know where there is an old tire up in a tree.

But, how would a large (800 lb) rock get "placed" in a tree? Maybe from an explosion. Are there coal mines near the rock(s)? How many rocks was on the space shuttle? Do UFO's use rocks for ballast?

Could it be something other than a rock? A VERY large hornet's nest, if it was WAY, WAY up high, might appear as a rock. A rusty barrel, discarded washing machine or lazy-boy.

Is the location, of the tree w/rock, in a valley, near, but just below a ridge, where a rock could have been rolled over, onto, into, the tree many years ago by Daniel Boone?

If my first 3-lb package does'nt arrive soon, and I still have to much time on my hands, I would like to see this new WONDER-of-the-WORLD with my own eyes.

Thanx
Dave W

[hoosierhiver]

all right guys, i found aweb page with it,check out debshome.com/Indiana_Phenamenon.html,it's a rock no doubt

[Dave W]

Greetings . . .

HOOSIERHIVER - Please check the "Rock" web address, Im having trouble.

This better good!

Thanx
Dave W

[hoosierhiver]

sorry,try......debshome.com/Indiana_Phenomenon.html

[Jorge]

How about a tornado ? That could wirl around big chunks and landed on the tree ... not without damage though !!! I prefer the explanation that it is a huge nest of some sort. Can you get on the tree and check it out.

Jorge

[hoosierhiver]

i ain't climbing 40 foot straight up a tree to get a better look at a rock,but i've seen it and it's real,the canopy of the tree is not broken,the bark isn't damaged anywhere,and like i said there is another one,same thing big oak tree,about 40 foot up,maybe 3 miles away.the terrain here is very hilly so not really condusive to tornados either.

[hoosierhiver]

the indianapolis stra ran an article on it sunday(4-3-03).

[newguy]

Maybe it came from some war. Sounds like the sort of thing Samson would do.

[Michael Bush]

Maybe the world is supposed to have some mysteries. http://www.beesource.com/ubb/smile.gif Lakota would call it Wakan. That means both "mysterious" and "sacred". There's only one word for both, because if it's "mysterious" then you best treat it with the respect due something "sacred".

[alleyyooper]

Well I can see there isn't any farmers in this bunch. As a former farm kid I can tell you for a fact rocks grow. As the tree grew some one placed a stone in a crotch of it as a trail marker, then the tree and rock greww together. Ifin ya have doubts as to rocks growing find a farmer and ask them.
http://www.beesource.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.beesource.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Al

------------------
Your not fully dressed until you put on a smile.

[BULLSEYE BILL]

Al, this is an 800 pound rock! Not a twenty pound trail marker.
Bill

[hoosierhiver]

as of now i've seen 4 of them in the area and have heard of 2 more..

[Michael Bush]

>Al, this is an 800 pound rock! Not a twenty pound trail marker.

Yes, a twenty pound trail marker that grew into an 800 pound boulder. http://www.beesource.com/ubb/smile.gif

[alleyyooper]

As I said ask any farmer, http://www.beesource.com/ubb/smile.gif a 1 pound rock placed into a tree crotch about 30 years ago with a growth rate of 20 pounds a year could very well equal 800 pounds but, would the 800 pound rock have ground shrinkage? And really only be say 200 pounds, which is in it's self one big rock http://www.beesource.com/ubb/smile.gif.
Still Must have been one :confused travler of the woods to have planted that many rocks.
http://www.beesource.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Al.

[BjornBee]

I'm not sure if certain topics aren't just put for the amusement of some twisted individuals to see what type of comments would be made. It is fun.

Comparison point: If you lay barbed wire in crack of a tree, or attach it with a nail to the side, the fence wire over the years will not rise significantly as the tree grows. A branch from a tree will remain and grow exactly where it is today and for the coming years.

I may be missing something from the previous comments but are other people suggesting that someone put a boulder in the crack of a tree, and over the years the tree pushed the boulder to more than 40 feet up. I'll rethink this point after I get done pounding my head against the wall......

[ChellesBees]

Al,
You wouldn't happen to also have a left handed monkey wrench in your tool box, would you?
Michelle

[Michael Bush]

Anyone who has farmed rocky ground understands Al completely. You get all of the big rocks out of your field and pile them up, but every year There are more of the big rocks there. Maybe some of the little ones grow bigger? It never ends. http://www.beesource.com/ubb/smile.gif Do you have a better explaination? Surely somebody didn't haul a truckload of big rocks and scatter it in the field?

This is of course, only perception. But it's one that is hard to shake.

It's true trees only grow from the ends.

[hoosierhiver]

rocks have all sorts of overlooked qualities,try putting a rock on the ground and watering it,in a few days go lift up the rock and you will find the rock has produced some nice fishing bait for you,they make good company while fishing too.

[Brandon Shaw]

This is probably just a simple case of " a pet rock gone bad" This has been known to happen before. Much like the bees disapear when we don't give the proper level of care, your pet rock may also runaway. In this case it just ran ukp a tree!

[Jorge]

This story of the rocks growing on trees is truly odd. It clearly needs a good explanation, but give me a brake ... to claim that rocks on trees grow with the trees is simple very hard to swallow!!
Following this logic, all the rocks we are surrounded by would be growing 20 lbs/yr. Or is it only rocks on trees that grow and no others do? I would not like to be around in 30 yrs surronded on all sides by 600+ lbs rocks of all shapes. I should rush to change my roof with slated tiles: over the years they should get thicker and thicker creating a self-repairing (unfortunately also quite a bit heavy) roof that never needs changing.
Jorge

[hoosierhiver]

as rocks grow they naturally get heavier and sink into the ground,allowing smaller rocks a chance to get some sun and rain.

[Brandon Shaw]

Yes Jorge, you've been had... I knew sooner or later someone would actually argue the comical explanation. Rocks don't grow, they are simply "pushed up"

[hoosierhiver]

there is nothing simple about it,rock growing patterns are enough to drive a mathametician crazy,trees only grow upwards,but rocks grow outwards in every way(and sometimes even inwards).they also have very good memories.

[mark williams]

Why? is your's mad at you.(l.o.l). Just having fun Mark

[BWrangler]

Hello Everyone,

These observations of rock behaviour are very interesting. The growth and development of rocks has been very well covered but I'm surprised more beekeepers haven't posted their views of rock reproduction. It is almost identical to bee colony reproduction.

When a rock gets big enough with enough son and water it will often split much like a hive will swarm. Pieces of the larger rock will detach and are transported by wind, water or other ways to new locations. Geologists call this erosion.

At these new locations the process starts over again and if all is successful new rocks will eventually be swarmed.

Now like bee swarms maybe some of the rock swarms ended up in the trees not being able to find a suitable place underground.

Regards
Dennis

W

[alleyyooper]

Man made things such as tile, shingles or shakes on ones roof do not grow no matter how much sun and water they get. Shakes will expand when wet but shrink when dry.
That's why you never see a flower garden or veggie garden on a roof of an underground home because the rocks would soon grow to heavy for the supports.
http://www.beesource.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Al

[newguy]

That hunter that found the first rock -- did he put it in the tree with a helicopter the night before? http://www.beesource.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Also, how long have people known about the other ones? http://www.beesource.com/ubb/confused.gif

[beekeeper28]

I harvest rocks of my 2 acres every week, when I try to mow. My wife gave up on the garden because the rocks were growing faster than the weeds and the produce. And we don't weed our flower beds we derock them......Tip for other rock farmers A good use for your bountiful harvest is to have your children to gather them into vertical wire cages as fence post when they need behaviour modification.... has wonderous affects...

[hoosierhiver]

the most famous of the rocks in trees is "gobbler's rock",it's been known about for at least 5 years,the others i'm not sure.

[Barry]

A photo of "Gobbler's Rock" can be seen here: http://www.bee-l.com/bulletinboard/hater/index.htm

-Barry

[BeeScared]

A rock in a tree?Very wierd!

[hoosierhiver]

they're back in season.

[Michael Bush]

Funny, but we were at Beetopia and this subject came up. I didn't bring it up either. Beekeepers must just be a curious lot.

I didn't hear any better theories.

[denise_ky]

HoosierHiver,
did I ever send you the picture of my tree eating tree I found on my property?
Denise

[hoosierhiver]

looked ferocious as well as coniferous

[Hillbillynursery]

I have seen many natural yet weird things. Since I was not around when this first came up I am seeing it for the first time. Sand stone can be magneticly poled. Coral palace in Florida was made by a man that said he could cause rocks to become weightless. He never had any help( well no one said they did) and no machinery was found. He suposedly got the method of moving the rocks from the Drewids(sp)that made stone hinge(found and translated scrolls or something). Magnetics can move very large and heavy objects. I am not saying this is what did it but it does answer some of the problems other ideas do not address.
J.C.

[WeaverBro]

FYI - The freeze/thaw process continually "pushes" pebbles, cobbles, boulders, etc., to the ground's surface. This is why farm fields (in what were glaciated areas) appear to produce a never ending supply of rocks at the land's surface, even after yearly removal.

As for boulders in trees....I'm w/ the Lakota and am leaving it as a mystery.

[mike_c]

Indiana DNR is sponsoring a weird tree contest. Hoosierhiver being the weird tree expert I posted him a note. This is his reply:

<beewrangler2003@yahoo.com> wrote:
thanks,currently in thailand.just saw a bunch of apis cerana,pretty cool.,mike"

<mikecors@outdrs.net> wrote:
Indiana DNR is sponsoring a weird tree contest. I posted a note in Beesource Tailgater a few days ago. Thought you'd be interested....

Mike

[denise_ky]

Mike,
Does the weird tree have to bee in Indiana?
Denise

[mike_c]

Probably. Try the link:
Headline "IN Search Begins For State's Weirdest Trees." http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/01/18ky/met-4-rbrf0118-4741.html

[denise_ky]

Thanks Mike,
I may send by photo in just for the heck of it.
Denise

[wayacoyote]

Rocks do grow, and so do stones. My brother is always troubled by stones that grow. They can get quite large and bothersome. He has to eat a special diet.
As for the rock in the tree it may be a case of sedimentation. Or perhaps of the Rock Hounds in the other thread treed it up there.

I am curious if anyone has checked under it for worms. I bet they would be as large as pythons.

Perhaps it was dropped by a bird... perhaps 2 African swallows tied together and carrying a coconut.

[Scot Mc Pherson]

Obviously if it were swallows, they'd be carrying a stone wouldn't they? If they were carrying a coconut, then it'd be a coconut in the crook of the tree.

Swallows are known to carry coconuts as has already been well documented and bandied about to death, though I have never heard mention of a boulder bearing bird before.

I know that ants can carry something like 50x their own weight, perhaps a nest of ants decided this boulder needed to be moved out of the way for once and for good and stuck it up there.

[Oxankle]

Hi, Fellows:

I am curious. I see a lot of fellows spoofing here, but I want to know if there is in fact a big rock anywhere 40 feet up in a tree?

If so, it had to be placed there by man. A rock placed in a fork in a tree, no matter how large the tree or how large the rock, will stay at the same height forever. A given point on any tree will never change its spatial relationship to the earth on which the tree grows barring sway, collapse, etc.

An 800 pound rock moving due to natural forces (eruption, rolling off a cliff, thrown out of a C-l05) will have enough kinetic energy to demolish any tree it lands on. It will not come to rest and not leave visible damage.

Conclusion: Unless the whole thing is a fraud the "rock" might be a big piece of foam rubber, styrofoam, a roll of insulation or some other debris deposited by nature. If so there should be other debris in the area.

I never saw a hunter who was not so curious about such mysteries that he did not at least shoot into the puzzle to see what the material appeared to be. Did the shot leave a mark? A sound? Is it really rock, did chips fly?

I have an oak in the back yard that has a gall on it as large as a bushel basket. Is it an oak gall? One thing for sure. Unless some prankster put it there it is not a rock.
Ox

[hoosierhiver]

they are big rocks,no doubt.

[O2]

poltergist....................maby................ .......ok.....maby_not,........................... ......................... i cant drive up there to see, so, im guna go and sleep now.

[Hutch]

I think I figured out Hoosierhiver and the rock in the tree thing. Check out his 2003 post in the "Any traditionalarchers here" section. LOL

[Julia_on_Melmak]

In fact, rocks growing in trees are very common in Europe. My dad even broke his chainsaw while he was cutting a big sweetchestnut tree...
I can't see why you should be surprised by rocks in tree while some roofs are made with grass and flowers.
See http://mizpahboerboel.co.za/jpg/dogs/scandinavia/s010.jpg
for more details.
Stay tuned for more info,
J.

[JohnBeeMan]

Maybe some 'Rock Hounds' treed it. Or else a lot of lawyers were attempting to craw under it.