SzescstopniWe had to cut down a huge Prunus serotina tree that threatened our tiny house. It turns out that moose love the twigs and can now reach them, so we have a guest. 1/
Moose are wise. This one didn't give a fuck about dogs yapping at it from a very close distance while it was having its lunch. 3/3?
Prof. Sam Lawler@Szescstopni COOL!! I didn't know you had moose there!
@sundogplanets Quite a lot of them. That's why I drive slowly and infuriate drivers behind me. Most of them would like to shoot them, but so far they're a semi-protected species, which means hunters can't kill them. Apparently they like our house, so those apple trees we planted last autumn might not survive. But proximity of humans keeps a small pack of wolves that lives nearby (not our dogs, real wolves :) away, so it's a safe space for moose.
Thomas@Szescstopni I knew about moose in Poland, but Prunus serotina was new to me. It's interesting that it grows as large trees like in their native area, NA.
In Germany, according to Wikipedia, it normally grows as a shrub.
@tg9541 That's one of those things that helps us to question established wisdom :) They're an invasive species here wino natural enemies worth mentioning so we didn't really worry about cutting it down. This one was about 30 yo.
@Szescstopni no natural enemies besides the moose, of course 😉
@tg9541 As I wrote, they're not worth mentioning :) They really don't have much impact. But we did find some mushrooms that help us to get rid of them, so there's hope.
cohan@Szescstopni They love many kinds of Prunus and relatives-- they visit my yard every year (especially over winter) to prune those and other things (Cornus, Amelanchier, Sorbus etc-not fond of Malus though?- maybe they don't like the Latin name..)
@cohanf Malus definitely sounds evil :)
@Szescstopni wise moose.. maybe your apples will be safe-unless yours are tastier or your moose have different taste buds... (though here they eat poplar and willow twigs as a main diet- hard to imagine anything being more bitter!)