Trees provide us with lots of things: oxygen, shade, fruit, beauty, and sometimes even, unexpected entertainment. They have a mischievous streak that seems to appear when they’re bored or hungry. They’re known to devour almost anything in site if given half a chance and enough time.
Road signs, bicycles, telephones and even entire houses aren’t off limits to these leafy “predators.” But for some reason, they don’t always fully “digest” their dinner. The results are bizarre, cute, scary, fascinating and hilarious all wrapped in one. So much so that there’s an entire community dedicating to sharing photos of Trees Eating Things.
Bored Panda has put together a list of our favorite posts from the page. We also get to the root of why this phenomenon happens. You’ll find that info between the images.
#1 No, Please Litter
I like how it kinda looks like it’s holding the sign.
Image source: dangtoohot
#2 The Call Is Coming From Inside The Tree
This telephone receiver has been in this tree for at least 20 years. When I first discovered it, it was hanging partially free. I do not know if the entire phone is in there.
Image source: D-Hippolyte_Dark
#3 Tree Devours Wheel. What Goes Around, Comes Around
Image source: Gainsborough-Smythe
You’d be forgiven for thinking trees are plotting against us to take over the world. These gentle giants seem to have developed a taste for the stranger things in life, and quite a massive appetite. The technical name for this “appetite” is edaphoecotropism, and it actually has nothing to do with eating as we know it.
Edaphoecotropism is when a woody plant engulfs an object in its path. Signs, bikes, fences, and even buildings aren’t off-limits. Some trees will even devour more than one object that’s in its way. And that’s where those objects will stay for years to come.
#4 Tree Eating Yummy Street Light
Image source: cache_invalidation
#5 I Heard Y’all Like Trees Eating Things
Image source: TooLooseMcGoose
#6 Spotted On Fb
Image source: PoisonWaffle3
Scotland’s Bicycle Tree is a perfect example…
The Bicycle Tree was planted in the late 1800s near a blacksmith’s scrap heap. Over the years this giant sycamore tree has engulfed dozens of objects, including a ship’s anchor, a horse’s bridle, and of course, a bicycle.
Legend has it that the bicycle belonged to a villager, who was conscripted during World War One. He’s said to have left it hanging on a branch before setting off to fight in the war. Today, visitors flock to see this “freak of nature,” which has bicycle handlebars and part of a frame sticking out of its trunk.
#7 Sign Devoured By Hangry Tree
Image source: [deleted]
#8 Trees Eating An Abandoned House
Image source: Aurora_Angelica
#9 Jesus! That Tree Is Hungry
Image source: Jusselle
So what causes trees to munch weird things for lunch? At its root, say experts, edaphoecotropism is a stress response.
“When the tree growth encounters an environment that obstructs its access to sunlight, water, air, or otherwise provides inhospitable conditions, the plant responds by growing in the direction of more favorable environmental conditions,” explains the Carved By Curiosity site. “The phenomenon is well documented in plant roots. Sinuous roots exhibit knee-like bends while coursing through the soil avoiding obstacles in search of nutrients.”
#10 Well Done Person, Well Done
Image source: [deleted]
#11 Someone And Their Chainsaw Are Going To Be In For A Nice Surprise Sometime In The Future
Image source: Loubrockshakur
#12 Tree Eating Children
Image source: DianaSironi
Besides eating inanimate objects, trees have a lot more going for them than many people might realize. For example, many can outlive us and last forever. Some of the world’s oldest living trees are more than 4,000 years old.
Even when they appear to have withered away above ground, parts of a tree’s root system continue are still very much alive underground. They can even regenerate into a whole new tree. In the absence of disease, drought, and human interference, trees are the GOATs when it comes to survival.
#13 A Tree Grew Thorought This Old Buket
Image source: Fit-Emergency-7131
#14 Big Live Oak Eating A Stop Sign
Image source: brandibug92
#15 Tree Ate Then Saved Another Tree
Image source: [deleted]
If you thought that trees eating things was cool, get this: they talk, too!
“Trees actually communicate and share resources with one another through an underground fungal network often referred to as the Wood Wide Web,” explains the official Earth Day site. “This network is made up of mycorrhizal fungi that connect the roots of different trees and plants.”
#16 A Bus Snack
Image source: Noodnix
#17 Have A Seat?
Image source: Melindafla
#18 Found In Hamburg
Image source: Tale-Dull
The Earth Day site explains that trees can send sugars, nitrogen, phosphorus, and even chemical warnings about environmental threats like pests or drought, to each other through these fungal threads. Almost like one, big family looking out for each other.
In fact, some very old and large trees, are even referred to as “mother trees.” This is because they support the younger or weaker ones by sending them nutrients through the Wood Wide Web.
#19 My Firewood Had A Pine Cone Inside The Tree
Image source: nzscion
#20 Building Eater
Cambodia, Siem reap, Angkor complex
I was told on the tour that the tree seed fell on the roof of this temple and grew into it. The angkor complex was abandoned for many decades, so it grew undisturbed and now is one of the complex’s pearls.
Image source: Monkey_Lover_3000
#21 The Way These Trees Grew Together
Image source: l__o-o__l
Trees may not have a brain like we do, but they’re still capable of remembering things.
“While trees don’t have a central nervous system, recent research suggests that they can ‘remember’ previous environmental conditions and adjust their behavior accordingly,” reveals Earth Day. “Scientists studying drought conditions have found that trees exposed to water stress can adapt by closing their stomata (leaf pores) more quickly in subsequent droughts, effectively conserving water more efficiently.”
#22 Not My Work
Image source: MotherTreacle3
#23 From The Streets Of Mazatlán Mexico
Image source: brentonodon
#24 Tree Munchin’ On A Gravestone
Image source: Laniakean_Echos
Trees aren’t only looking out for each other. They’re also doing their part for people. You probably know that they provide us with oxygen, but did you know that they release organic compounds called phytoncides, which has a calming effect on human beings?
Phytoncides help to protect trees from insects and pathogens. But according to experts, when we breathe in these chemicals, they can reduce blood pressure, lower stress hormones, and boost immune system activity.
#25 Big Munch
Image source: MrGramGram
#26 Hungry Gentleman
Passed this guy while on a nice fresh-air walk during the pandemic so naturally I had to share a (new) mask with him. Don’t worry, as much as I wanted to I didn’t leave the mask there.
Image source: la_picasa
#27 Tree Eating A “No Parking” Sign
Image source: Either_Image_4540
So while they might look like they’re just standing there, simply rooted in the earth, trees are up to so much more.
They’re communicating, chatting to each other, feeding and nursing the young, remembering, adapting, providing us with oxygen, calming us, and wondering what’s for dinner… A car? A bike? Or an entire haunted house?
#28 Have A Nice Day
Image source: sopadebombillas
#29 This Was Some Serious Bench Building Patience
Image source: publickenema
#30 I Was Told You Guys Would Like To See This
Image source: IllustratorNo1178
#31 Nummy Fence
Image source: some_kind_of_rob
#32 Tree Eating Brick
Image source: NoSprinkles758
#33 Not Mine. Saw On Another Social Platform. This Tree Is Snacking On An Nes Turbo Controller From 1987
Image source: the_way_around
#34 Om Nom Nom
Image source: jimmy_throwaway
#35 Rules Are Meant To Be Eaten
Image source: smcao
#36 Eat One Now, Save One For Later
Image source: Honeybucketman
#37 Girlfriend Asked If It Was Eating The Fence Or Sitting On It Like A Bench
Image source: sixfeetwunder
#38 Insane
Image source: Legitimate-Army-8888
#39 I Think It Was A Studebaker
Image source: WillontheHill77
#40 Trees Eating Rock
Image source: blarglebloosh
#41 Spotted In Boulder, CO
Image source: RacingTh0ughts
#42 Om Nom Nom
Image source: Meagan_Frost_4EVRnow
#43 Rock Stuck In Roots
Image source: 33aavt
#44 Yummy Rock
Image source: Inevitable_Bite9639
#45 Excited To Find One Myself
Image source: barefoot_wanderer
#46 Tree Eating Sign From 1976
Image source: WildSilent-
#47 The Tree I Mounted My Hammock On Eat One Of The Metal Hangers
The first three images are all of the same tree. You can compare them to the last image, of the second (less hungry) tree with the same metal hanger. Elapsed time is just under 3 years, these were installed in June 2022.
Image source: ChthonicPuck
#48 Tree “Eats” Barbed Wire
Image source: alreadyinuse999
#49 Eating The Cracks Of The Sidewalk, Nom Nom
Image source: [deleted]
#50 Address For This House In Winnipeg, MB Almost Fully Devoured By Two Trees
Image source: [deleted]
#51 Tree vs. Fence
Image source: CaskStrengthNeat
#52 Speed Limit Sign Eaten By A Tree In Iowa
Image source: DahmerReincarnate
#53 Some Om Nomming Occurring In Algonquin, Canada
Image source: Imthehealthyspecial
#54 Tree Ate The Fence, But The Rest Of The Fence Was Removed
Image source: GraftedInGrace
#55 Going For Seconds
Image source: LickableLeo
#56 Posted This On Another Sub, And Someone Told Me About This One
Image source: [deleted]
#57 Paint Brush
Image source: [deleted]
#58 Tree Ate A Dang Deer
Image source: PlentyOLeaves
#59 Tree Eating Stone
I wonder who and why put this stone there. Or how long it’s been there.
Image source: DailyFlavours
#60 These Posts That Were Supposed To Guard The Tree
Image source: VincentVandogGogh
#61 A Tree Consumed A Rifle That Was Leaning Against It And Never Retrieved Over 100 Years Ago
Image source: Smash_Factor
#62 Tree Doesn’t Like Being Fenced In. Decides To Do Something About It
Just outside my work.
Image source: Simple-Eggplant-6454
#63 No More Choo-Choo For These Railroad Tracks!
Image source: gabbykitcat
#64 Community Watch
Image source: [deleted]
#65 I Visited Cambodia In 2008 And One Of The Coolest Things I Saw Were These Massive Trees That Had Taken Over So Many Of The Temples
Image source: darthnut
#66 NYC Tree Going “Nom Nom” On The Sidewalk
Image source: WallsOfWrigley
#67 I Thought You Guys Would Enjoy This!
I’ve found this tree today while driving in New York City!
Image source: thgstang
#68 Was Bottle Hunting
Image source: JimKong-Un
#69 Tree I Saw On My Walk
Image source: Galvnasty6996
#70 Almost Got It
A tree eating a sign on my usual dog walk.
Image source: FelangyRegina
#71 This Guy Always Fascinated Me Idk Why
Image source: Organic_Log_5071
#72 Sidewalk Must Not Taste Too Good
Image source: SnooBooks49
#73 Average Fence Post
Image source: B4ZSYhun
#74 Nom Nom
Image source: MrDodiX
#75 Surprised Outlet Swallowed By Tree
Image source: [deleted]
#76 Mmmm, That’s A Nice Boulder
Image source: YouTooShallLose
#77 Prison Break
Image source: Don_Armando
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