Twisted

[Lonsdale73]

Spotted this hazel limb and have a couple of questions I'm hoping some of you might be able to answer.

1) What causes it to twist like this?

2) Are there any laws or rules on 'harvesting' wood from woodlands? I'd imagine one cannot simply walk into a wood with a chainsaw and start cutting down trees willy-nilly so would it be permissible to harvest a single stem like this? And what about branches or trunks that have naturally fallen/brought down by storms?

3) And finally, do we now have so many squirrels that they plunder all the hazelnuts and acorns before any humans can touch them? I couldn't find a single hazelnut and found but one acorn in several woodland walks between August and November!

 

[galleywood]

That stick is prized by walkingstick makers.
I have heard that it is often caused by honeysuckle which has been twisted around it when the stick grows.
I can't answer regarding the harvesting etc.

 

[Tris]

Hi, it's definitely the result of honeysuckle winding round the stem.
Stickmakers I've known always say the best time to harvest a stick shank is when you see it :wink:
Seriously though, taking one stem from a Hazel stool, cut cleanly with a pruning saw won't damage the plant whenever it is done although the bark stays on better if cut in winter.
Flippin' squirrels round here have the nuts whilst they're still green. Think oaks produce heavy crops every other year so some years there's very few to find.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I'm pretty sure all the references I've seen to foraging wild food all say it should only be done with the landowner's permission, so I'd assume the same applies to harvesting or gathering anything - timber, firewood, crops, edible wildlife, whatever. Of course, that opens the often thorny problem of finding out exactly who the landowner (or their properly appointed agent) might be.

Use common sense, I reckon. The odd stick, not so much a problem; the wholesale harvesting of someone else's coppice woodland - different story. And, of course, don't get caught....

 

[profchris]

All the wood, growing, cut or fallen, belongs to the landowner (or whoever has bought the rights from the landowner).

For reasons you don't want explained, cutting it is a trespass to land. Once cut it becomes a chattel, and taking it away is both a trespass to chattels and theft.

All that said, most landowners seem pretty relaxed about someone picking up a stick which takes their fancy on a walk. But if you're the 20th person that week seen walking off with an armful ...

 

[Tasky]

That stick is prized by walkingstick makers.

And also by makers of Wizard Wands!!

 

[CHJ]

We used to just wind a length of fencing wire around the stem, the forces required to expand the coil was enough to cause a deformity without it being overgrown and buried. The odd ones harvested when cutting runner been sticks for the field were always appreciated by someone.

Been meaning to do some with the hazel growing in my hedge that I coppice for garden sticks.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Honeysuckle (which always grows the same way round the stem) or wire/string.

Another trick is to tie a granny knot in the hazel whip and optionally to scratch the cambium where the ends meet. As long as the top end is above the horizontal it will keep growing and form a ring at the top.

If I saw someone taking one of these, or anything else tbh, from my woodland I would be peeved.

 

[Droogs]

As far as I've always been told up here in Scotland, you can't take by cutting or sawing but deadfall is anyone that wants it

 

[Just4Fun]

As far as I've always been told up here in Scotland, you can't take by cutting or sawing but deadfall is anyone that wants it

The law is obviously different in different places so I can't comment on the truth of that. However good manners would surely dictate that you shouldn't go onto someone else's property and walk off with things you find there unless you have permission. Certainly I would not be happy if someone did that in my woodland (or my vegetable garden) but I have never refused when someone has asked, even when they have asked for complete trees.

 

[Droogs]

As far as I've always been told up here in Scotland, you can't take by cutting or sawing but deadfall is anyone that wants it

The law is obviously different in different places so I can't comment on the truth of that. However good manners would surely dictate that you shouldn't go onto someone else's property and walk off with things you find there unless you have permission. Certainly I would not be happy if someone did that in my woodland (or my vegetable garden) but I have never refused when someone has asked, even when they have asked for complete trees.

No law of trespass in Scotland only requirement is to do no damage. Illegal entry to propery is a different matter though. Couple of weird hangover laws up here are interesting, If someone comes to your door and asks to use the toilet or for a drink of water, you can not refuse

 

[Lonsdale73]

I am the sort of person who would certainly be 'caught' if doing something I'm not supposed to. Perhaps why I am also the type of person who always asks permission first, never assuming it is okay to do as I please. The specimen shown was in a woodland managed by the Forestry Commission and I used the contact page on their website to ask the same questions posted here. That was nearly two months ago and so far not even an acknowledgement. It's becoming a bugbear of the modern age and a mystery as to why some organisations have a contact page at all!

 

[Woody2Shoes]

It's not just squirrels that like hazelnuts...

https://wildsouthuk.wordpress.com/2014/ ... your-nuts/

https://hampshiredormousegroup.co.uk/ge ... -searches/

Cheers, W2S