Cone Wars – The Saga pt1

It had been almost a year since a bright orange traffic cone appeared 100 feet up at the top of a Norfolk Pine in Whanganui.  How did it get there?  Who put there? Questions that remain unanswered.

Although on council land it was a member of the public who gave our Beaver Tree Services team a call to see what we could do.

At 8am on Tuesday the 21^st of September 2021, Jacob Hiroti climbed the 100ft tree.  When he got to the top, he found the cone was tied to the tree with ropes and fairy lights. The mystery cone person sure put a lot of effort into getting the star on the tree!

With some skilful climbing and arborist work Jacob was able to remove the cone safely. While some residents were sad to see the conversation starter removed, it was ultimately the right thing to do for the tree, whose growth was being stunted.

After removing the cone, we presented the cone, with much pomp and circumstance (no, not really!) to Downers, the original owners, who had no idea how it had made its way to the top of a tree. Not only Downers who don’t know how, but everyone in Whanganui…except of course, one very skilled tree climbing person.

The story of the cone captured the attention of the local news and started to spread.  Bryce Robb, Director and Head Arborist of Beaver Tree Service, was invited to be interviewed on TV One’s Breakfast!  There was great excitement all round.

 

https://youtu.be/OhGtd_VedcQ – One of our Manawatu Beavers, Jacob Hiroti, climbing the 100ft Norfolk Pine to retrieve the cone.

 

https://youtu.be/QNu3hPWrj6k – And he’s got it! Yes, Hannah, we should applaud…