The tree is gone!

Yesterday, Gateway Tree Service came and took out our 44 year old monster maple. They did a fabulous job. We asked them to leave the logs for firewood, and they stacked everything against the shed. Well, ok, they stacked everything they could lift against the shed. We still have the monster trunk spread out across the yard. We need to rent a hydraulic splitter before the wood dries. So, why do I highly recommend Gateway Tree Service? Because they left not one leaf behind. They totally cleaned up after themselves. We have a tiny bit of sawdust to sweep up, and that's it. Goodbye lovely shade, I'll miss you.
For the bargain price of $850, this fully insured company got our power dropped (good thing), moved our swimming pool, took apart a meter wide tree, stacked the wood, got our power up again, and put the pool back where they had found it. Their phone is 314-752-5992
Kudo's also to our neighbor, Salvador. Thank you for generously sharing your electricity with us for a few hours. You rock!

Now for the gross bits. One whole limb, bigger around than my hips (shudder) was totally rotted away. I went outside today and poked a stick into the rotten part. It was squishy-wet and crumbly. I dug out some larval something or others, I don't know what they were, but they looked like large living boogers. I put them in a pile for the robins. I can hear the birds outside right now chirping out their delight.
I've always been tickled pink about the abundance of wildlife around us. Just this year, I've seen a turkey, a groundhog, a skunk, a bald eagle, bats, falcons, hawks, several pairs of heron, woodpeckers, and hummingbirds.
Of course, I've also seen the standard city animals- pidgeons, sparrows, crows, cardinals, jays, squirrel, possum and raccoon.
L is hopeful that the woodpeckers will still come around, and I assured him that there were plenty of dead and dying trees around to support them.
I've seen all kinds of freaky bugs around here, including those nasty white grubs that eat your rosebushes, but I think the booger slugs living in the tree take the cake. At least for this week. Two weeks ago I would have laughed if you'd said I would see a living skunk in my lifetime.
That skunk was pretty damn cool. I know skunks are predators, but I'd never been close enough to one to really catch that vibe before. I went inside when it started climbing our hill towards me. Yeah, I'm chicken. There are a few things I don't need to experience in this lifetime. Skunk encounter, by teeth or by tail, is somewhere on the list between suffering food poisoning and jumping out of an airplaine.