LOGGERS MAKE A STRANGE DISCOVERY IN THE MIDDLE OF A HOLLOW TREE

 

What will happen if your ordinary job suddenly gets overloaded with adventure? Won’t it be looking all exciting again? You might think what could be so exciting about usual boring days. Well, every day is a new day but we don’t remember each and every day of our lives, just the significant ones. We always expect but most of our unforgettable memories are unplanned and comes to us all of a sudden. All it takes is one moment. If a logger can get such a surprising day at work then anyone can. What’s a great deal about a logger’s life, you’ll know it today.

Logger’s Surprise

A logger was on his daily job hours which meant he and his team were assigned enough trees that they were required to cut down before the end of the day which was standing in the way of a builder’s construction. So, looking at their profession this sounds like a normal thing. At first, everyone thought so but soon after starting their work they realized they’ve to stop. No, there were no revolters interrupting them, it was something bigger than that. Their original plans for the tree went away after taking a glance at this discovery.

Daily Business

The woodcutters of the Georgia Kraft Co. were up for their daily business. And it was all going sooth and simple until they started cutting down a specific tree. It was about to give them an experience for a lifetime. Even today it amuses the world about how did it actually happened. But when nothing makes sense, science comes for the rescue with its logic which is at times hard to digest. A similar thing was going to happen on that cloudy day.

Not Odd At All

Jasper being ‘the first mountain city’, located in the Pickens County, Georgia, United States. The beautiful small city is right next to many vastly spread mountains including Big Canoe, Bent Tree, and the Preserve at Sharp Mountain. Generally, loggers are criticized for the work they do, ie, cutting the trees but in Jasper, it is not a big deal as every other family is directly or indirectly connected with the logging industry.

Not Your Average Wood

The mountains near Jasper are covered with American chestnut trees, that are of great profit when it comes to commercial value. The reason behind it is chestnut trees’ growth speed, they grow faster than oak trees. This tree species is one of their kinds. At the beginning of the 20th century, American chestnut trees were at the stage of extinction due to a spread of the fungal infection but the species managed to survive. These are now found throughout the eastern North American regions like Nova Scotia, New Hampshire, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. They have very unique characteristics which resulted in what came in front of this group of loggers that day.

Lunchtime

One fine day in 1980, in the morning after the clock struck 10, around 7-8 people who worked at Georgia Kraft Co. left their homes and sat in an empty truck and headed towards the decided location. The work was too much and it needed to be done by the end of the day. The loggers started their work by chopping off the trees one by one. Till lunch time everything felt like the rest of their work days. When the work started after lunch they felt something wrong with one of the trees but no one realized what it was.

Weird Tree

Almost all the chestnut trees that they decided to cut were done, just a few were remaining. Out of those few remaining trees, there was a specific one, which felt quite light weighted compared to the rest of the trees like it is hollow inside. The moment the first ax hit the tree’s trunk they were now certain about the hollow tree. Who knew the tree was hiding a hideous secret within itself. 

Something Was Off About That Tree

After the tree trunk fell on a side, the loggers were cutting it into small pieces that were easier to transport. While the loggers were busy in chopping off the tree into pieces one of them noticed something strange. As they assumed, the tree was hollow. if that was the case then light should pass through it but that wasn’t happening which meant there was something stuck in the hollow tree or maybe the tree wasn’t hollow!

Black Hole?

According to people who were looking at it from a distance it looked like a black hole inside the tree. It seemed scary as well as intriguing at the same time. At first, everyone thought it’s some stem growing inside the tree but it was much weirder than that.

Just One Alternative

When they all were confused about what was this thing blocking the light to pass through the hollow tree, they were left with no other option but to decide who’ll be the one to get inside the tree and check what it was. At first, nobody was ready, people at that time used to believe in a lot of superstitions. Although they all knew it couldn’t be anything dangerous everyone hesitated a little. But someone has to check.

Check-It-Out

After all the discussions, one of the loggers agreed to get in the hollowed-out trunk as much as he could and check on what actually the matter was and to take a closer look at it. When he bend in to look inside, he rushed out and jumped back with terror and was unable to describe what he just encountered.

A Beast!?

When asked what’s wrong he stood there spellbound, meanwhile, everyone else’s curiosity was reaching to its hype. When the man finally spoke he said that he saw a beast in there, nobody was believing him but everyone was scared. There work stopped and they couldn’t understand what to do. After all, things like this don’t happen with them every day. It was the first time that they were caught in the middle of such confusing circumstances.

What Was It?

What is it? How did it get there? Everyone had the same question in their mouth. The loggers altogether checked out this hollow-looking tree and it was a dreadful scene in there. Who says only scientists can make discoveries? What a group of loggers found inside a tree was the very first discovery of its own kind.

Made A Call

The loggers knew they can’t cut this tree anyway. Yes, it was a loss of their work but they knew whatever this thing was, it could be far more significant or valuable to others. Hence, they made a call to inform about their sudden finding to their manager who was equally confused as they were. Anyway, he wanted the required work to be done and asked them to ignore it and focus.

Teeth Solved The Mystery

It seemed like a monster trying to jump out of the tree. According to some, it looked like a canine growling. It was hard to guess what it was when the only thing clear to them was that it is a living being. The discovery was certainly disturbing but everyone wanted to know the story behind this monster in the tree. 

Frozen In Time

This thing seemed like trying to move and was frozen in time. What happened to this creature? That was their sole question. Before it could be answered, the loggers themselves understood what it was and guess what? Their guess was right. After taking a closer look at the creature, they noticed it’s teeth, that made it quite obvious to them.

A Pooch!

Its teeth were sharp, a long snout, and its paws were visible too. It was visible because it was close to the trunk’s top. This mystery was partially resolved when the loggers made out that it was a dog. But now they were baffled to even think that it was an alive pooch at some point in time that was nowhere in the mid of the tree. 

Mummified Version?

Some said it was like a mummified dog, but what a mummified dog was doing here? Neither it was Egypt nor it was buried in a coffin! It wasn’t even mummified, it was like someone asked him to stay statue until he dies and he agreed. That’s not the true story though.

Unanswered Questions

What loggers could not make out was, how did this dog even get there? Was the way it looks like it was trying to run? Keeping all their curiosity aside they got back to their work meanwhile they decided what is to be done with this trunk.

Too Valuable

The loggers were aware of the fact that this will affect their profit but they agreed on the point that this trunk was way too valuable to be chopped off to fulfill their needs. They all made up their mind to not cut this trunk into pieces even if they’ve to bear some loss. They made a wise choice that revealed so much about human lives that even they couldn’t believe themselves.

Let’s Get The Research Done

After completing the work, they took this special trunk to the right place, a place where all their queries regarding this dog and its tree could be answered. They wanted to know the origin of this weird looking scene and what happened to this dog. 

Long Way To Go

The trunk was given for further research to the scientists but until one year nothing came up about this dog. It was in 1981, the next year when the story of this mysterious tree was cleared out to everyone including the loggers. When they got to know the story of this pooch they couldn’t help but feel sad about the poor thing.

Southern Forest World

The  Southern Forest World was opened in Waycross, Georgia is a museum under the Southeastern United States’ industry of forestry. Its collection includes wood production in colonial America to modern tree farming techniques and this canine wounded up in a trunk was kept for the people. The loggers donated it to the museum authorities where the mystery was revealed.

A Popular Exhibit

Southern Forest World got the trunk before inaugurating the museum and they needed to mention this dog’s story in the intro. It was somewhere clear that this exhibition was going to be a great success. So far, the only thing known about this trunk was that it is discovered by the loggers, they wanted to know the true story and that’s when Kristina Killgrove, a biological anthropologist came into the picture.

Bottom Of The Mystery

Southern Forest World found the right advice and information from the biology experts to examine the dog inside the trunk. Again, in the first place, the specialists said that the pooch seemed to be mummified but that’s not practically possible then what exactly resulted in this dog’s ending up in the tree. When everyone else was confused, Kristina, a part of the University of West Florida figured out the exact explainable answers.

Preservation

Kristine explained it bit by bit. She started by specifying the process of tissue decay that this begins with the putrefying process when microbes eat the tissue soon after death. “They grow, they reproduce, and they start taking over the body,” she mentioned. Her further explanation was more logical.

Keeping It Alive

The chestnut trees include tannin and desiccant, an organic substance which can absorb moisture. According to her this one of the distinctive characteristics of the chestnut tree restricted the nature from taking its course.  This property created an environment for the body to last without moisture which stopped the microbes. But what was wrong with the scavengers who smells the body from far off places and ran towards their food.

Masking The Scent

“Anything that would eat dead flesh would never know he was in the tree,” said Bertha Sue Dixon, Southern Forest World’s director. When there were no microbes, there was no smell that could lure flesh eaters. The smell was blown upwards through the hollow trunk like a chimney and no predator was able to get to it. But one question about this mystery remained as the biggest question. How was he even there? 

The Final Chase

As per Bertha, “He’s a hunting dog, so we assumed that he was chasing something in the tree.” In 1960, this dog’s age was 4 years old when he died, and was chasing a raccoon or a squirrel. He followed the prey inside the tree from any open hole or he might have dug his way into the tree. The more he tried to chase his prey the more upward he went but being a dog what he didn’t notice was that the hollow tree was narrower towards the top. Surprisingly, he got stuck amused everyone who got to know about the height where he got stuck!

Way Too High

He got stuck at a height of 28 ft, which is exactly 336 inches and sadly got stuck there and was never able to make out of the chestnut tree alive. The museum states, “A chimney effect occurred in the hollow tree, resulting in an upward draft of air. This caused the scent of the dead animal to be carried away, which otherwise would have attracted insects and other organisms that feed on dead animals. The hollow tree also provided relatively dry conditions, and the tannic acid of the oak helped harden the animal’s skin.” The people have different thoughts about the dog who now has a name.

The Dog Has A Name

The dog had no name for decades until 2002. The mummified dog is quite popular in the Southern Forest World. It’s kept on display right at the center of the museum. In the middle of several tree specimens like cypress, oak, and pine trees. He is like an ambassador of the museum that his image is on the promotional materials and even postcards.

Meet Stuckie

The dog was known as the “Mummified Dog” for years and was finally named as Stuckie. This name was given after a naming contest where the name “Stuckie” defeated “Chipper,” and “Dogwood.” A guy suggested this name stated that this dog’s trunk coffin is similar to “pecan logs,”  that’s usually sold in Stuckey’s stores. But to ignore trademark issues, the museum modified the spelling a bit. The sad part of the story is still remaining.

Sad Part

“People always ask me, ‘How did he get in there?’ And I always say, ‘Well, he was a hound dog. Maybe he was after a coon.’ And then they’ll say, ‘Poor old thing. I feel so sorry for him,'” tells Brandy Stevenson, Forest World’s manager. The people too showed concerned about the dog’s body.

Let Him Go

People have mentioned their wish that Stuckie should be buried instead of being on display. Many times this question has been raised that why should his body stay there for the visitor when it should actually rest in peace. 

Not Easy

Stuckie has been there inside that tree for years and his body is still stored inside without any harm. Being the main attraction of the museum, letting Stuckie go has never been a topic of discussion among the museum staff. He is kept there to increase awareness among kids.

Holding On

Whether people feel pity for him or they find his story amusing, for now, Stuckie is going to stay where he has stayed for the past few decades now. You can still go and visit him in the Southern Forest World in Waycross, Georgia. Take your family or friends with you and have a fun day around.