Hello again ,
Something scared me when I was by the Main the other day. As I was walking along, I suddenly heard thud, thud, thud around me. I was under an oak tree and acorns were falling to the ground. None of them hit me, but I wondered how much it would hurt, especially if one hit me on the head. Acorns are hard little things!
Chestnuts are pretty scary, too. Maybe the actual nut, if one hit you on the head. I think I've been hit on the arm or shoulder and that didn't hurt.
However, the outer layer of some chestnuts look scary. They have hard spines which must hurt if they hit you as they fall off the tree. A young child that I know didn't even like going near the prickly pieces lying on the ground. He called them 'Ow'. His mum wasn't even sure what had happened for him to react like that.
Do these prickly pieces hurt when they hit you? Chestnut trees are new for me.
Tasmania gets quite cool in winter, so migrants have planted trees like chestnuts and oaks in gardens and parks, but the local trees are different.
If you go into the forest or woods in Australia (usually called 'the bush'), the main type of tree is the Eucalyptus tree. We call them 'gum trees'.
Gum trees have gumnuts, which store the seeds of the tree (they're not 'nuts' you can eat!). However, gum trees don't drop all their gumnuts at a special time, like acorns and chestnuts dropping from trees in autumn. In my time walking through the bush, I have never thought of being scared of falling gum nuts.
The other very common family of trees is the acacias (or 'wattles'). Often these are smaller trees, so you walk around them, not under them. Their seeds are usually in pods similar to peas in the garden - not something that can damage you.
What are your experiences with trees, especially chestnuts and oak trees. Have you or others ever been hit by something falling from a tree? Hit 'Reply' to tell me your stories.
Enjoy your week and stay safe when under Europe's dangerous trees 😉,
Andrea
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