The public doesn’t think twice about the life of Loggers. They seem like a forgettable part of society, even though they are truly essential. One ordinary logger challenged that perception, without even trying.
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His regular day of work turned into a story for the ages, involving a saw and a tree. Sounds boring enough? Well, the logger wished it was only boring when he found out what was hidden inside this tree.
1.Family Town
It all started in a beautiful city located in Pickens County, Georgia. The city sits next to vastly spread mountains like Big Canoe, Bent Tree, and the Sharp Mountain Preserve. It’s often known as “the first mountain city.”
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With the nickname like that, Jasper City was also a place where every family had a direct or indirect link to the logging industry. The loggers in our story were from Georgia Kraft Co and went about their normal day, of course, you can guess that this was definitely not going to be a normal day.
2. What Was That?
The loggers were assigned enough trees to keep them busy but just as the power saws were warming up, the team realized that they had to stop–they saw something that brought their operations to a cold halt.
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What made them stop? Well, a tree. Who knew this simple tree would give the entire team the most unimaginable experience of their lives. Even today, the loggers still recount the experience with great amusement.
3. Unusual
On this particular cloudy morning, what they were about to discover would remain a complete mystery for years to come. The loggers set about their various tasks immediately upon arriving at the site.
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It was a completely ordinary day, at least until lunchtime. As soon as they resumed their duties after their lunch break, they noticed something odd about one of the trees. One particularly lightweight chestnut tree seemed to be hollow inside.
4.Something Was Not Right About That Tree
That didn’t seem like it was a big deal, in fact, it would make it easier to cut down compared to the rest of the trees. However, the tree contained a hideous secret inside it, one that they were about to unearth.
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As soon as the tree trunk had fallen on its side, the loggers began to cut it into smaller sizes for easier transportation. But while going about this one of the loggers noticed something unusual.
5. What Was Inside Of It?
They had previously assumed the tree was hollow but that wasn’t the case. If the tree had been hollow, sunlight should have been passing through the trunk, from one end to the other. But this wasn’t happening, which meant one of two things; the tree was not hollow or there was something stuck in between.
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The loggers looking at the tree trunk from a distance described it as looking like a black hole inside a tree. But whichever way they looked at it, it looked both fascinating and intriguing at the same time.
6. Just One Alternative
While the loggers exchanged quizzing looks about what could be blocking the light from passing through, they faced another dilemma; who was going to go inside and check out what was blocking the light from coming through the hollow tree?
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Suspicions ran wild among the community and initially, no one was volunteering. They all agreed that it couldn’t be anything dangerous but still, there was general hesitation in the air.
7.Check-It-Out
The loggers appeared to have reached a stalemate when one of them suddenly offered himself up to get into the hollow trunk and solve the mystery. The brave volunteer bent forward and stuck half of his body inside to try and get a closer look.
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But then he jumped back out in a shriek and for a few seconds, couldn’t even bring himself to describe what he’d just seen. Yes, something inside this hollow tree had made an experienced, rugged logger, shriek in front of his colleagues.
8. A What!?
His colleagues went over to him as soon as he’d caught his breath, glaring at him with curiosity. But he just stood there, pale and spellbound by what he’d seen. By then, his colleagues’ curiosity had reached boiling levels. When he finally spoke, he informed them that he’d seen a beast.
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They didn’t immediately believe him even though they were still scared, so much so that every one of them had stopped working. It’s not every day the loggers get caught in the middle of confusing circumstances.
9. What Was This Thing?
Several other loggers peeked for a quick look and came out with looks of puzzlement in their faces. How on earth did such a thing get there? What was it in the first place? It was a dreadful scene for them, never mind that it would be the very first discovery of its kind.
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And they were about to learn that such a thing was so rare, that not even scientists and archaeologists had made such a discovery. One thing was clear to the loggers; they were not going to be able to use the tree.
10. Making a Phone Call
Despite it being a gruesome scene, it was also clear that the tree trunk was going to be of significant value if they showed it to the right people. So they took the most logical step; they called their manager.
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Unlike the loggers, the manager seemed not too impressed by the scene beforehand and hushed the workers to get back to work. It was only when he took a closer look at the thing, hidden in the truck did he understand the situation.
11. The Teeth
It looked like whatever was stuck in the tree, was more akin to a monster trying to jump out. Others saw it too, as a ferocious canine, growling and baring its teeth. Despite the varying descriptions, one thing was clear to anyone who looked in; it was a living thing.
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Well, it wasn’t alive at the moment, but that it must have been there a while. Curiosity levels heightened, and everyone was itching to learn just how the monster got stuck inside the hollow tree.
12. Frozen In Time
The way the creature was positioned in the trunk indicated that it might have been trying to move forward but then got frozen in time. Everyone wondered what could have happened to the creature. Questions and guesses flew around but only one of them was right.
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Questions and guesses flew around but only one of them was right. The clue lay with the creature’s teeth, something they noticed after taking a closer, second or third look. It seemed pretty obvious as soon as they’d looked keenly.
12. A Pooch!
The creature had a long snout with sharp teeth and the paws were also visible. These features were visible because they had been close to the trunk’s top. But the mystery only began to unfold when the loggers established that the creature was a dog.
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They sighed with relief with distraught hidden behind it when they learned that this creature had been a living dog at some point in time. Now, it was just a mummified dog which was very well-preserved.
13. Mummified Pooch?
But what in the world would a mummified dog be doing in there? They were not in ancient Egypt and the dead dog was certainly not buried in a coffin and on further, inspection they learned something even more strange.
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The creature wasn’t even mummified in the first place. It seemed the dog had simply obeyed a command to freeze and stay still until he died. And he agreed. But this was only speculation.
14. More Questions
As the mystery deepened, the loggers began to wonder how that dog got inside the tree in the first place. Was it trying to run or hide from something? Someone?. The loggers hauled the trunk to what they felt would be the right place to answer all their questions.
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The right place to take the trunk was to the scientists who, the loggers figured, could come up with the necessary answers. But it turned to be a long wait because it took more than a year before they got any answers from the scientists.
15. A Long Wait
In Waycross, Georgia stands a museum called The Southern Forest World. The museum was opened under the Southeastern United States’ industry of forestry. It features a collection of wood production from colonial America to modern-day farming techniques.
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It was here that the canine ended up, still held within the tree trunk, as an artefact for the people. They had decided to donate it to the museum authorities who’d helped solve the mystery.
16. The Popular Exhibit
When the loggers took the tree trunk to Southern Forest World, the authorities were yet to inaugurate the museum. From all indications, the exhibition was going to be a success. But the museum needed the backstory of the dog.
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Then, the only information they had was the fact that the loggers had discovered the trunk. They wanted the real story. Kristina Killgrove, a biological anthropologist, came into the scene to help establish the possible background.
17. Bottom Of The Mystery
Thanks to her expertise, Kristina would provide the right advice and information after examining the canine inside the trunk. She initially appeared to confirm the earlier observations that the dog might have been mummified.
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But then she quickly dismissed the observations, indicating that they were not practically possible. However, the biological anthropologist based at the University of West Florida had the exact explainable answers.
18. Keeping It Alive
As it turned out, Chestnut trees contained tannin and desiccant, an organic substance that can absorb moisture. Kristine explained that this was, in fact, a distinctive characteristic of a chestnut tree, and one which prevented nature from taking its course. Therefore, the body of the canine lasted much longer in such an environment.
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The lack of moisture stopped the microbes from eating up the body tissue. But that was only half the explanation. What about scavengers who could smell the body from afar and come running towards the potential food?
19. Hiding The Scent
“Anything that would eat dead flesh would never know he was in the tree,” Bertha Sue Dixon, Southern Forest World’s director added. Since there were no active microbes, there was no smell to lure flesh eaters. And even if there was some smell, it was blown upwards through the hollow trunk and away from potential scavengers.
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Until 2002, the mystery dog didn’t have a name, even though it was popular at the Southern Forest World. The dog was known only as of the mummified dog and occupied the centre of the museum, in the middle of important tree species such as cypress, pine, and oak.
20. A New Name
Today he stands as an ambassador of the museum, which now uses his image in most of its promotional materials and postcards. And probably ends up intriguing and scaring all its guests into visiting the museum!
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Having been known as the “Mummified Dog” for years, the dog was finally given the name Stuckie. The name had emerged after a spirited naming contest where three names, “Stuckie, ” “Chipper,” and “Dogwood” received most of the votes. But it was “Stuckie” that came out as the most popular name.