Why Farmers Die Using Chainsaws

My next door neighbor got a farmer buddy of his to remove a maple in his backyard yesterday morning. I was just heading off to work when I noticed, and nearly spit out my coffee in shock as I watched him work. I decided to snap a couple of pics before heading out. This guy could pretty much write a book on unsafe felling practices, see if you can spot the (at least!) half dozen or so safety issues that are hastening this guys death! I asked him why he didn't bother notching the tree, and he told me if he did that, he would have no idea where it might fall, and he didn't want it falling in my yard! I actually didn't get the impression he even knew what a notch was - simply, utterly, amazing; I am at a complete loss!

Starting Anew

About a year ago a portion of the lakefront property next to ours was cleared by the property owner. In doing so, however, his contractor 'mistakenly' cleared much of a half acre triangle of crown land that seperates our properties and runs from the lakefront back to the old Ottawa Arnprior and Parry Sound railway line. Not that I am defending a contractor that has problems determining where property lines are located, but most of the trees on the crown land and the neighbors lakefront were scruffy poplar and birch, and I didn't have a huge issue with the clearing, as it now gives me a perfectly valid reason to go onto the crown land and plant whatever I like, to hopefully grow into a curtain blocking the view of the rather ghastly clearing 'next door'. I have decided on a selection of specimen trees , including assorted conifers, hardwoods, and fast growing hardwoods to fill in the area, which I will actively 'manage'. Here are two of the original succesful additions, a Balsam Fir now almost 4' tall, and a white pine approaching 6', both being just over ten years of age now.