Thor

I can't believe it but it has now been over a year and Thor still lives!

Thor in the snow

I feel badly that in all the snow Thor keeps getting snowed in! Will the snow ever stop?

Beging from Norway I guess he should be used to it!

Thor moves to a new address

Just in case anyone out there is checking Thor moved with us to a new address!
He seems happy at his new home.

Thor survives the summer

Just in case anyone is checking, Thor has survived the summer.
We are moving and I don't know where Thor will end up!
He is still in his planter so I guess he will just have to be packed up with the rest of the household items.

Has he grown?

So on this somewhat cold day in June the 2nd to be exact I went to measure Thor.
The new total =24.5 cm!
This is the last week of the project and I have to say I think Thor will make it to the one month mark.
I also am happy to report that we have new grown on the edges of the little branches!
The new growth is definately a lot greener and softer than the orginal growth.

Is Thor safe?

Yesterday I was cautious as there was a new menace in the neighbuorhood.

A squirrel likes the trees at the front of my house! He looked at me, made some noise and wagged it's tail at me at a very rapid pace.

What is the possibilities of the squirrel doing any damage to my tree?

I went in search of more information.

I found out from one website that "squirrels can destroy trees by tearing and/or eating the bark"(http://www.squirrels.org/).

Since squirrels are active all year long (they do not hybernate) Thor will have to be on his guard throughout the entire year!

The squirrel in the picture is from the UK and is said to be driving out the regular grey squirrels because it has more testosterone - making them more aggressive and more successful over the other squirrels in their territory.

I hope this squirrel stays away from my tree! I will keep a look out and let you know.

What about forest fires?

When the lightening was going on the other day it got me thinking about the upcoming summer and the possibilities of forest fires.

My mom and sister just got back from Florida where fires are a huge problem. So I thought about what the current forest fire situation was in BC?

You have to understand the levels called "the Danger Class Ratings".
Here is what they mean:
Low - Low fire danger.
Moderate - Carry out any forest activities with caution.
High - Fire hazard is serious. Extreme caution must be used in any forest activities. Burning permits and industrial activities may be restricted.
Extreme - Extremely high fire hazard. General forest activities may be restricted, including burning permits, industrial activities and campfires.

So what does BC look like right now? As a tree grower right now I have concern for all trees!

See the map? The closer to red the closer to DANGER!

Right now the blue means that there is a very low risk.
It looks good but there are currently 16 fires of note that are larger than 10 hectares (which is larger than Queen Elizabeth Park). It's early in the fire season but be careful out there in the forests this summer!

For more info go to: http://bcwildfire.ca
If you see a wildfire call toll free 1-800-663-5555 (*5555 on most cellular networks).