Secrets of Scarred Trees

While conducting tours, I quite often get asked the question ‘Why is there a steel axe hole cut in the scar?’ The cut hole has nothing to do with the original scar. In the depression in the 1920s, individuals seeking additional income would hunt for possums, rabbits, and foxes in trees to sell their skins. To identify a suitable tree, they would tap it, and if it sounded hollow, a hole was cut. Then a long piece of old rusty wire with a crank handle on one end would be inserted into the tree and rotated. When the animal screamed in pain as the wire tangled in its fur, the animal was then extracted.

I am often also asked about the age of the scars. The best way to tell the age of a scar in Grey Box and Black Box is to examine the surveyor marks in trees chopped in the early 1870s, the growth in this period of time has only been approximately 120mm in 153 years. You also have to allow for how long the tree has been dead like the one lying on its side, estimated to be at least 80 years ago. From looking at the growth that has occurred since the scar was made, we can carefully estimate of how old the scar is.

Remember if you want to have a look at some of these remarkable trees on the wetlands around Boort, just ring Paul on 0417 333 171.