Over the last few weeks, the neighbor’s property has been subject to winter logging. The wood being harvested is likely soft-to-medium woods destined for a pulp mill or perhaps a pellet mill. The primary piece of equipment is called a skidder (pronounced locally as “skid-dah”); I have not been around when it has been operating. This skidder does nothing more than collect felled trees and drags them back to the loading site. This is not one of those massively automated operations you might see on the Discovery channel (where one logging machine cuts the tree, strips the branches, and loads it onto a truck). Aside from the skidder, the rest of the work is manual with a chain saw.

The clear cut that remains is not considered environmentally damaging because it is less than an acre; it does look pretty ugly but it results in an area rich in rotting wood and exposes the grounds to more sunlight.

The second image shows the blogdog standing in the right-side track of the skidder; the tires are three-to-four feet in width. It crunches most of whatever is in its path.