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<center>![P1390542-2-1 lighter 261kb.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmPxvupaKhKbYNCQtjTEZjaBKrnwtVnCWdvgwEEj6HHL6o/P1390542-2-1%20lighter%20261kb.jpg)</center>
### *Spruce Snag and Friend ~ Hoh Rain Forest ~* ###
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Trees have always fascinated me, and this Spruce snag was no exception. (Snag: an official forestry term for a dead tree). 

I photographed this snag in the Hoh Rain Forest,  on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington state, USA, this past summer.  We were inundated back home with nasty smoke from forest fires, and escaping to a place that was moist, cool, and that still contained some breathable oxygen in the atmosphere sounded like a grand idea. It was. 

### Ooh, What IS That? ###
While wandering about on the trails through the deep, dank forest, this snag peeked out and beckoned from the canopy of the forest beyond. (Canopy: another forestry term for the combined branch layers of forested trees. Think large, green  tarp of branches up above.)  

We stopped to take a look, and there at the top of the snag, was a small, round patch of green. Just sitting there, thumbing it's bushy nose at those of us way way down on the forest-floor below. 

Knowing the snag was completely dead, owing to the lack of bark on the bole (Forestry term: the  trunk),  I was taken back a bit by that small green patch way up high, perched jauntily like a moldy wig on the top of the snag.  A hilarious reference to a 'forested rug-piece' was made in the direction of my hiking companion...which either fell on deaf ears, or was just too dumb for retort....as no reply was forthcoming, beyond a look of unidentifiable something or other. So there was only one way to find out for sure what was up in the canopy above.  

### Applied Tree Science 101 ###
I suppose one could climb this snag for a closer look, if so inclined. But optical analysis seemed a whole lot more prudent at the time. After all, we were in a National Park, and  climbing LIVE trees is frowned upon by those rangers in odd,  starched  Smokey hats. I'm sure climbing dead trees that fall down rather easily would not be appreciated either.    So, zooming in with the 30x on my Lumix, I discovered what our little green, forested hairpiece was all about:

<center>![P1390545-2 179kb.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVYiyfwtQCzcTXPBpqFmZNtVHeR2HT7GYpSPoMCpZDJz8/P1390545-2%20179kb.jpg)</center>
### *Snag Wig-ery* ###
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Our little green patch way up high appears to be a younger Hemlock tree, that has gained a root-hold on the rotting center of our Spruce snag. 

These old, dead trees are often called 'nurse trees', (or 'nurse logs', if our snag is no longer in a vertical plane), for rather obvious reasons.  They provide a cozy place for younger trees to grow up and gain a tree foot-hold in a nice, wet, spongy, nutrient-rich environment. The snag 'nurses' the tree into adult life and beyond.   

### But What Happens When The Snag Falls Down? ###
Very good question.  I have seen shorter snags  and downed logs that have similar trees growing on their surface.  The new, live trees have roots that grow down the log/snag sides, soon becoming tree stems that hold the new tree up in-place when the snag falls or the log rots away beneath.  

These resulting  trees are rather eerie and comical looking, like large spiders or odd space creatures, crab-walking the forest floor on multiple, stilted legs of solid wood.  Very peculiar, and somewhat rare creatures of the forest.    

This case, however, is not likely to be one of these happy, movie-like endings in the make. Our small tree is no-doubt doomed to a rather violent end, once the snag finally rots and falls to the elements.  I fear a 200 foot drop to the forest floor below is a harsh tree-pill to swallow for our little green bush up on-high.

### Just Like Grandma Used To Say ###
So, for now, we will appreciate our new-found, little green bushy friend way up in the canopy, and hope that the snag stays vertical for a long, long time. As my Grandmother was wont to say whenever life got her down in the grandmotherly chops now and then:  "Go While You Can".   Makes sense to me, and probably as well to a short, fat, little green tree, perched precariously hundreds of feet above the hard forest floor.    

*Go while you can, little tree, go while you can*.
 
 
## <center>~ Finto ~</center> 

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#### Thanks for stopping in and viewing the odd-duck little tree of the Hoh Rain Forest.   If you have any thoughts about snags, opportunistic species, National Parks, fun grandmotherly sayings, or anything else this post reminds you of, feel free to comment away in the spaces below. I'd love to hear from you. ####


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#### And go to @ddschteinn -- There's a whole lot more... ####
*<sub>Posted: 12/05/2017</sub>*

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### *Excerpts From Late-Night Discussions With A Mechanical Cat* ###
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