On the pine beetles...

I know we don`t see much of the damage pine beetles can cause when we are at our prairie home, but once out in the mountains you can really see the havoc they have wreaked. Once out of Chetwynd you can see the damage escalating, and when you hit Mackenzie - the mountains are full blown red. Not a live pine tree left. The damage lessens somewhat as you drive north to where we are, but it is still very present. At our claim, they are hitting quite hard right now, as we are surrounded by mature pines, their favorite. Since we arrived a month ago, we have lost several more trees in the yard. They are alive right now, but in a few weeks the needles will start to yellow and by next spring, the trees will be dead. As soon as we see the telltale sawdust on the ground and the crusty Cheerio like rings on the tree, we know they have had it.

A friend staying with us a few weeks back, sleeping in the wall tent, was kept awake by a strange noise for much of the night. In the morning, we noticed the two trees nearest the wall tent had sawdust on the ground (as did his packsack sitting underneath!) When you stood close to the tree you could hear it - it sounds like Rice Krispies in milk. A `snap, crackle, pop` sound can be heard as the mature beetles chew their way into the tree. Hundreds of them. If you look up at this stage you can even see them landing on the tree to do their damage. An adult pine beetle is smaller than a grain of rice, but when they work together, they can take down a 200 year old pine tree. Now that`s teamwork.