Buenos Aires – These give me the willies, creep me out, make my spine shiver. I have no doubt that it’s either a case of some odd local tree (ubquitious along Av. Libertador) that happens to have red sap, or it’s some kind of lubricant used on the power saws to make chopping them down easier (I lean towards the former, as the red liquid seems limited to the outer rim between the bark and the wood). All I know is that stacks of them were lined up the other day along the avenue and I swear I could hear leaves screaming.
As a chainsaw-using person, I will attest that your guess is accurate. The red stuff is chain oil, used to lubricate the chain while it’s cutting through the wood. Is there a tree overgrowth problem on the streets of BA?
Well, Av. Libertador is a wide avenue – I think it’s 9 or 10 lanes wide through a large portion. This was in the area around near the Polo grounds, the racetrack, and some other sporting related arenas. The trees are fairly old, and rather big, lining one side of the street, and they do tend to overhang the first couple of lanes, which seemed to be what they were cutting back along a several block section.
So, if this is chain oil, how come it’s limited to just the rim under the bark and isn’t spread throughout the cutting surface?
Well, I may be wrong. Perhaps trees down there harbor some nasty red liquid-gel-like stuff. On the other hand, from the photo, it looks like the liquid did, indeed, spread to other parts of the cutting surface.