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Something Wacky This Way Comes

 

Around the end of September beginning of October new people moved into the house behind me. They cut down all but one sickly looking tree in the middle of their back yard. So about 4-7 healthy trees were cut down. There is a tree service that offers us wood for our wood stove all the time because they have to pay to get rid of it otherwise. We got 2 large truckloads of wood within a week, we have to split and cut to size, we have a wood splitter so that helps. Also at this time I was seeing lights flashing in my backyard. I stared at them for a few minutes and realized that they were FIREFLIES when it started getting cold?

At the beginning of the summer my husband and son were talking about all the animals that end up in our yard. I said watch we'll get an opossum this year. We had some wicked wind a couple of nights in a row and since we now smoke outside we could hear branches being snapped. My puppy Loki was at the back fence and he sniffed at something and jumped back. I knew it had to be an animal so I told him to leave it and he did it again when he sniffed it again. I ran in the house to get my shoes and a flashlight. The wind was so bad a baby opossum was blown out of the tree. The crazy part was I was watching the baby opossum and took my eyes off of it for 2 seconds and it disappeared. We have a new back fence so there were no holes for it to squeeze through. I would see it if it had climbed the fence. We looked along the back fence line and the only possible way it could get out is the corner of our fence and we would have seen it.

Then there was a still night and it sounded like something HUGE rammed the back fence trying to get in our yard. Luckily we include our property when we do our shielding. We also noticed on nights that we still heard small limbs breaking in our trees. Several times something would come fly out of the tree. One time it was thrown halfway across the yard (110w x 197 l.) When I said that we weren't the people cutting down trees please leave we would hear the snapping a few houses down. Then the local power company started trimming trees around a week after the people behind me cut down trees near us then on our street, they didn't care how butchered the trees looked. The snapping and breaking of branches continued. And again I said that we didn't do it please go away and we would hear the branches being snapped a few houses away. One night my son and I heard loud munching in the tree closest to us and to calm myself I joked with my son about a loud raccoon. We've seen the baby opossum a couple of times but it was quite a bit bigger than I recall but it was kind of curled up and scared until it pulled a disappearing act.

I don't know what the hell was in the trees snapping branches. The only thing I can think of is a pissed off nature spirit. Now keep in mind when I say that the branches that were snapping had to be at least 1 1/2 to 2 inches around or maybe a little bigger and there was only one night of evidence of something being eaten. Before I forget this went on during the night AND day so it wasn't squirrels or that small opossum.

I'm sorry that this was so long but I wanted to put in as much info as I could.

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The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, RedWolf, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

sweetsunshine1800 (4 stories) (85 posts)
 
7 years ago (2016-12-02)
Hello Miracles,

Glad to know it wasn't something paranormal. It is really fun that animals have some sense of humour too. Almost everyday, I have humorous moments with my cats. Sometimes they sleep with such funny posture, it makes me burst with laughter 😆

Have a good day!

Best wishes and,
Regards,
Sweetsunshine1800
Miracles51031 (39 stories) (4999 posts) mod
+2
7 years ago (2016-12-02)
Sweetsunshine - yes you can call must just Miracles LOL It's a whole lot shorter than trying to type the numbers with it.

It was just a typical squirrel with a quirky sense of humor, I'm guessing LOL Nothing spiritual or paranormal about it, but it definitely got my attention 😆
sweetsunshine1800 (4 stories) (85 posts)
 
7 years ago (2016-12-02)
Hello RedWolf and Miracles,

I again thought this was something paranormal and I'm sorry about that. And Glad to know RedWolf the snapping has stopped now 😊

Have a good day!

Best wishes and,
Regards,
Sweetsunshine1800
sweetsunshine1800 (4 stories) (85 posts)
 
7 years ago (2016-12-02)
Hello Miracles (Can I call you just Miracles?)

Wow, I'm really interested as how could a squirrel tell you off. Some spirit squirrel or something else? These insights are increasing my curiosity about the paranormal 😊

Have a good day!

Best wishes and,
Regards,
Sweetsunshine1800
RedWolf (31 stories) (1292 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2016-12-02)
Miracles

Thank you so much for sharing this. You're right it may not be paranormal. I don't freak out at the paranormal in most situations but this was too freaky to be natural.
I did a prayer of protection for my house and the houses on either side of me and the house behind me and the houses on either side of that house. The snapping stopped by the next day.

Regards
Red
Miracles51031 (39 stories) (4999 posts) mod
+3
7 years ago (2016-12-01)
I don't have a sound theory on this at all, but wanted to share something that happened to me one afternoon on the way down my drive.

I live on a dead end, one-lane, paved road, lined sporadically on both sides by trees; not street, country road. In the middle of the road was a squirrel crossing from my left to my right. This squirrel stopped in the middle of the road, looked at me, held up both his paws and shook them at me, making motions like he was completely telling me off. Then he continued waltzing across the road.

If anyone had told me this story, I would have said something like, "yeah right" or "you're full of crap". But it happened. My only reason for sharing this is because maybe there is a completely non-elemental/paranormal reason for the sounds you heard as well as the limbs.
RedWolf (31 stories) (1292 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2016-12-01)
Miracles
I'm sorry if I appeared rude. I wanted the opinion of the people I've known on here that would know more about nature spirits. I won't do it again.
Miracles51031 (39 stories) (4999 posts) mod
+3
7 years ago (2016-11-30)
Redwolf - I'm sure you don't mean to be insulting to our other members, but to ask a couple of times for certain members to comment on your story can be interpreted as rude.

I cannot speak for Granny or Rook, but if I had intended to comment on your story I would already have done so. As you know, sometimes there isn't anything to add that someone else hasn't already mentioned. And sometimes there just isn't anything to say.
AugustaM (7 stories) (996 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2016-11-30)
Have you ever read 'American Gods' by Neil Gaeman? It often comes to mind when I read stories here on YGS that seem to deal with nature spirits, elementals, the old ones etc. It is a novel but it deals with the way a cukture's mythology ages and interacts with an ever-modernizing society. Given your experiences, you might enjoy it:)
babygoatpuller (4 stories) (432 posts)
 
7 years ago (2016-11-29)
Tweed has a good idea there Red. We had a 150-200 year old oak right next to a rental house we had. A good storm came up one night and the renter's called the next morning and said, "The tree is in the house!". Hubby went over to take a look and sure enough, that tree had split the house in half.

We called a tree removal place and the guy said it was full of termites! It was going to go down soon anyway, but the storm just sped up the process. I loved that tree and I couldn't bring myself to go look at it. 😭

But it did start shedding good size branches a few months before the storm and I told Mike he needed to call an arborist to have it checked out and trimmed up. He had planned to do it the week after the storm but it took care of itself.
RedWolf (31 stories) (1292 posts)
 
7 years ago (2016-11-29)
Hi spiritwaiting

Before I start I wish Granny Miracles and Rook have any ideas about this.

The reason the town contracted to have the trees cut is to put new wires up but some of these trees are about 100 feet tall. If they damaged the trees they are going to have upper limbs fall on the wires. The house behind me cut 7 or 8 trees down, after that is when things got wacky. First the fireflies at the end of September or beginning of October. Then the snapping of the small branches between 1 1/2 to 2 inches around but no evidence of this unless it was thrown out of the tree which happened several times. When I would say that I was not the person who cut the trees down so please go away. It would go away but I could hear the snapping in other trees, in fact multiple trees would have this happen at once, windy nights and calm nights. The poor dogs were afraid of the trees, especially at night. When a 6-7 month old devil may care puppy goes towards a tree stops dead in his tracks looks up and runs away but keeps an eye on the tree to make sure what he saw wasn't chasing him that's a problem. (my father in-law is typing v every time I'm away from the computer. He has a sister with Alzheimer's Disease and everyone called her V) Anyway the night my son and I heard loud biting and chewing we were both a little freaked. To calm us both down I said it was a loud Racoon but all the acorns were all on the ground. Thank goodness this has stopped (fingers crossed).

Your friend
Red
spiritwaiting (42 stories) (843 posts)
 
7 years ago (2016-11-28)
Hiya Red,

After reading this, it reminded me as to how pissed off I had been when I watched the construction workers chop and chop at all the beautiful trees that were placed and had grown around my home. I am a lover of nature and all its beautiful creatures and plants.

My oldest son would watch the squirrels play for hours in the trees just outside my room patio.

Anywho...
What a shame they cut the live and well trees for what?! Ya know just irritates me.

Sincerely
Spiritwaiting
RedWolf (31 stories) (1292 posts)
 
7 years ago (2016-11-28)
Tweed

If the snapping were still occuring I would call the State Park Commisioner or an arborist. Even if it was a disease that doesn't explain all the small pieces of braches being throw out of the tree or it stopping in my yard and moving on to another yard when I said that I was not responsible for the trees being cut down. Another weird thing is that my husband hasn't found any of the small pieces of branches except for what was thrown out of the trees, it is as if they were all eaten. I had convinced myself and my son that the loud eater was a Raccoon but the majority of acorns were on the ground.

The other thing I can't explain is the fire flies being out on a chilly October evening. Nobody gave me their opinions on that. Personally I thought that was a quirk until other things started to happen.

I just realized I had a duh moment in my story. I never mentioned my dogs seemed to be afraid of the trees especially at night. They would stay in the middle of the yard. One time Loki looked up in the tree and ran away from it but kept looking at the tree. If I think of anything else I will add it but I think I covered it all.

Thank you Tweed
Red

P.S. I would love to hear what Rook,granny,ad Miracles think about this.
Tweed (33 stories) (2475 posts)
 
7 years ago (2016-11-28)
Hi Red,

When I first read this I thought the same as you, pissed off nature spirit, heck it could still be that. But with what you've said about never experiencing the branches behave in that way, I have another angle for you to consider.

I recommend doing a ring around to your local rangers and whatever other nature workers you have on Long Island, ask about any tree diseases that may be going around. I'm not sure which trees this applies to, but some trees in public places get an injection every so often to ward off goodness knows what. (Yes really, a 'tree injection'!)
Worst case, your trees have something wrong with them which will need an arborist's opinion. (Don't ask a tree-lopper's opinion, they'll just want to cut it down for the $$)
Or maybe the trees which were removed from your neighbours, stupid neighbours by the way, maybe the trees which were removed provided your oaks with a shield of sorts, protecting them from harsh winds. Not necessarily strong winds, maybe just cold winds and weather from that direction. New York gets colder than England in my opinion, or at least it feels much colder. Your Oaks may just be acclimatising to the brunt of the weather they're now receiving.
I just did a bit of a search and found stuff about Oaks shedding branches during summer heat waves, but that doesn't exactly apply now.

Yeah, I'd do a ring around, get an expert's opinion. 😊
RedWolf (31 stories) (1292 posts)
 
7 years ago (2016-11-28)
Guys this has me stumped we have mostly oak trees in my yard and in the neighborhood. Oak is a pretty hard wood and tend to shed branches NOT have pieces of a branch snapped off. I have NEVER heard this happen in my life. I need some more spin on this.

Regards
Red
RedWolf (31 stories) (1292 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2016-11-27)
sweetsunshine

We have seen the opossum in the front yard several nights but larger than the one I saw. I don't know how fast they grow or if the one I saw just appeared smaller because Loki was still by me. He is the reason I looked away for 2 seconds I needed to grab his collar.

As for the thing that looked like a bat I really can't say it was but it flew out of the tree by itself and the snapping in that tree stopped.

The one time when I saw a branch being thrown out of the tree I watched it's flight and it landed too close to Loki 50 or so feet away from the tree. Loki didn't care though because he walked the few feet, picked it up and started chewing on it breaking it up.

Just a funny side note:Loki loves chewing on any stick. So he stole the tomato stake that I took out of the garden. My son and I were trying to get it away from him and he was playing keep away. We gave up and walked up the ramp we built for an old dog it has hand rails and of course posts. Loki came trotting after us after a few minutes. My son and I were almost crying with laughter because Loki never dropped this stake which was longer than the ramp is wide and he came to an abrupt halt at the ramp.

Regards
Red
sweetsunshine1800 (4 stories) (85 posts)
 
7 years ago (2016-11-27)
Hello RedWolf,

Thanks for sharing your wacky experience. So bats would be thrown across your yard? Really weird. I think its the spirit of the baby opposum you saw. Maybe when the wind occurred, it was blewn out of the tree with such force that it died. But why did it visit you, I don't know. I could be wrong though. I'm sorry if I am. I agree with you that the constant snapping of branches could be a pissed off nature spirit.

Have a good day!

Best wishes and,
Regards,
Sweetsunshine1800
RedWolf (31 stories) (1292 posts)
 
7 years ago (2016-11-27)
val & RC

I have to clarify something. When I said something would fly out of the tree I meant it was thrown and flew halfway across my yard. Although one night after I said we were not the people who cut down the trees and please leave I saw something that looked like a bat fly out of my tree but it was too cool at night for bats already.

As for the baby opossum my husband had just replaced the stockade fence along the back of our property and it was tight to the ground. So as I said I should have seen where it went. I'm just glad Loki didn't kill it. He's in the "mine" stage of puppy hood. It's just been a weird month and a half.

Val this is the 1st time in the 18 years that we live in this house that the electric company has pruned any trees. I've called them in the past to try to get them to cut back some branches because their wires were in between the branches and was told my tree I had to prune it but if I damaged their wires I had to pay for them. Hmm, electrocute myself or let them worry about it if a storm brings down a limb or two on their wires, I left the limbs. They are putting new wires and poles in so they did a chop job on the pruning.

Regards
Red
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
 
7 years ago (2016-11-25)
Red,
Is it possible that the opossum squeezed under the fence? Or hid under some leaves or something? I'm wondering because with being dark and having only the flashlight, you might have missed his exit.
No matter though, because to me he's just a quirky footnote in your accounting.
What about this 'something' that would fly out of the trees? I do realize you said 'something' because you couldn't identify it, but can you give any kind of description?
Is this the first time the trees have been 'pruned' by the power company? If not do you recall any activity then?
RCRuskin (9 stories) (811 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2016-11-24)
1. Could you please tell us more about the something that would fly out of the trees. What did it look like? How did it behave?

2. I've noticed that wild animals can squeeze into gaps and placed we would swear would be too small for them to get into, but they do anyway, so the baby opossum may have slipped through the fence or been dragged through by its mother.

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