“Your article reminded me of a friend’s house in Petersham in Sydney, where, out the back, embedded into a massive camphor laurel tree was a concrete clay tennis court roller,” writes Brenda Croft.

According to Croft, “whoever had last used the roller had left it leaning against the tree, and decades later much of it had disappeared inside the body of the trunk.”

While Croft laments she didn’t take photo of the roller before her friend’s block was cleared for redevelopment, many other readers have uncovered photographic evidence of trees in various states of devouring objects. Here are my top 5.

Russell Nankervis says: “Following the onset of World War I, a set of shearing shears were stabbed into a tree at Burrabogie, Hay and they’re still embedded in the tree.”

Renowned rural photographer Tracey Kruger confirms, “Yes, there are actually three sets of shears in the tree. They were placed there by their owners who went off to World War I and they remain as a tribute.

“Just imagine, one day shearing merinos by the river in Hay, the next day on the way overseas to war,” reflects Kruger. “I reckon war would have made merino shearing look pretty good!”

While this column has been unable to confirm the name of the shearer who left the shears in the tree at Burrabogie, there is little doubt about the pedigree of a set of hand shears embedded in another tree at nearby Deniliquin.

The Deniliquin Pastoral Times of May 26, 2015 reports, “This July will mark 100 years since Percy Morran famously plunged a set of hand shears into a gum tree next to the Old Morago shearing shed, about 35km north-west of Deniliquin.”

While the paper reports that “some say it marked the day when the shearing shed’s workers were called to play their part in World War I”, it also reports an alternate theory that “Percy [just] jammed the shears there in frustration”.

Whatever their exact origins, both trees embedded with hand shears serve as a timely reminder of the impact the Great War had on our rural communities, where a large percentage of the region’s young men volunteered to fight, and sadly not all returned.

Near the ANU Law School is a magnificent 200-plus-year-old Blakely’s Red Gum (Eucalyptus blakelyi). The tree was nicknamed the ‘Blacksmith’s Tree’ by eminent ANU botanist Lindsay Pryor and John Banks (Trees and Shrubs in Canberra, 2001) due to several iron rods embedded in the trunk of the tree.

“It is thought a blacksmith working in the mid to late 1800s would have used these rods to forge horseshoes into shape,” reports the university’s heritage adviser Amy Jarvis, who reports that during recent earthworks “a large horseshoe, possibly dating from the 19th century” was also discovered near the tree.

“At about 18 centimetres wide and high, this huge horseshoe must have been used for a draught horse – these tall and muscular horses would have been useful for the early European pastoralists who developed properties in this area, including the Springbank Property, which was surveyed on this site in 1832,” reports Jarvis.

The ‘Blacksmith’s Tree’ is located on the western side of Fellows Road at its intersection with East Road, but don’t leave it too long before checking it out, for the tree has almost completely ‘swallowed’ the rods.

Laura Fuhrman of Lyons first read about Commonwealth Park’s tree-eating rake while scrolling through The Canberra Times website on a recent trip to Europe.

“I can confirm trees eating objects is an international phenomenon,” asserts Fuhrman who “spotted this parking sign-eating tree in the small town of Albino near the Italian city of Bergamo [northeast of Milan]''.

I wonder if this oddity has spawned a new take on the ‘a dog ate my homework’ excuse. “Sorry parking officer, a tree ate the parking sign.”

Cid Riley of Tarago reports that on a recent trip to outback Queensland he stumbled upon this tree which “had become part of a fence”.
Riley was driving near Cloncurry when he pulled over for a comfort break.
“It was a chance sighting as I couldn’t see it from the road,” reports Riley who wonders “if the owners intentionally wanted to include the tree as part of the fence”.

Meanwhile, Matthew Higgins, this column’s bushwalking correspondent, submitted several photos of trees in local nature reserves, each indulging in a rare form of arboreal cannibalism, including this one near Horse Gully Hut in Namadgi National Park.
Higgins speculates that “a branch fell into (or was placed in) the fork of the tree and the tree has grown around the stick,” adding, “it appears to have been there for quite some years.”
“It’ll teach you not to lean against a tree for too long,” muses Higgins.

Regular readers of The Canberra Times will be aware that this spring is proving to be a busy one for bees in our suburbs.

Earlier this week Phillip of Ngunnawal spotted this absconded swarm of European honey bees hanging in a somewhat delicate location — beneath the tail of one of the kangaroo statues at the corner of Mirrabei Drive and Paul Coe Crescent at Ngunnawal.

Gary Poile, this column’s avid apiary correspondent, reports “at this time of year, swarms of bees will often ‘hang’ for a day or so on a bush and then go into a tree hollow or wall cavity - then becoming a feral colony or feral hive”.

Poile advises that if you encounter such a swarm, “you should leave the bees alone, keep pets and children away, and contact your nearest beekeepers club who will have ‘swarm catchers’ who will volunteer to collect them.”

Alternatively, if you find a swarm in your suburb, you can do what Phill did and report it to Canberra Connect (Ph: 132 281).

“The operator seemed very excited about it,” reports Phill, adding “I guess bee swarms under kangaroo tails are enough of a novelty to brighten their day.”

Phill would also like to send the folk at Canberra Connect and the ACT government a bouquet for their fast response. “The swarm was gone within a couple of hours of contacting them.” he reports.

Contact Tim: Email: timtheyowieman@bigpond.com or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie St, Fyshwick.

Cryptic Clue: Money, money, money.

Degree of difficulty: Easy - Medium.

Congratulations to Charlotte Hains of Ainslie who was the first reader to correctly identify last week’s photo as the Bungarby Memorial Hall, located between Dalgety and Bombala.

Hains, who reports her father “fly fishes the Monaro streams” and that her “ancestors were early settlers in the area”, just beat Michael Hyde of Ferny Grove and Carrington Wroe of Latham, whose “great uncle is on the role of honour displayed in the hall”, to the prize.

Meanwhile, June McKenzie of Fisher reports that “halls used to play such a vital role in the community life of villages and small towns.” While many halls in the country have fallen victim to the vestiges of time, regular maintenance days and events organised by an active committee have helped Bungarby Memorial Hall to buck this trend.

To allow locals to attend this year’s Remembrance Day ceremonies at some of our region’s larger memorials as well as their own hall, Bungarby is holding their ceremony a day earlier, on Saturday, November 10.

“Speaking at our ceremony will be Colonel Richard Mallet, Deputy Commandant ADFA and also in attendance will be Invictus Games wheelchair rugby athlete Davin Bretherton,” reports Robin Daley of the Bungarby Hall Committee.

“The hall walls are hung with stories and photos of local men who were engaged in Australian military campaigns.”

Lest we forget.

How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to timtheyowieman@bigpond.com. The first email sent after 10am, Saturday, November 3, 2018 will win a double pass to Dendy - The Home of Quality Cinema.