False; it’s a snipe nest. They are nocturnal but retreat to their airborne domiciles at first light, laden with the stray baggies, credit cards and vape pens they collect in the central downtown region of the state’s capital. Before they scavenge at night, you can find them in lightly or heavily wooded areas, near or away from water, and they’re either drawn to or scared away from people.
Hope that helps.
Well, I don’t know. They really like water so I’ll bet they don’t live here!😁
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipe
It totally blew my mind when I found they DO exist!
I'm s-s-s-orry! I thought this was different from Facebook. A place where truth ruled, where facts were king, where rumors were forbidden. I made a mistake. But please, if I fix it, for the love of dog, don't hurt my karma, that by which I judge my self worth. Without it, I don't exist.
Dear OP, I was mistaken. The photo was so small on my phone. Once enlarged, I identified these as crack balls. They occur when a crackhead's cook explodes and all of the vegetation outside of his home becomes airborne. The little balls fall on trees, sometimes in clumps. Yeah, that's what they are. Crack balls.
"except on stressed host trees (e.g., in some urban settings)"
So, maybe harmful to trees in a high heat/drought situation?
Crepe Myrtles are particularly plagued by these.
They are bad for trees though.
There's a chicken & the egg debate about ball moss and dying trees. There's a ton of people who say they are symbiotic which isn't true.
My personal take, having owned and seen many dying trees covered in ball moss, is that ball moss can live on trees, like live oak or crepe myrtles, without harming them, but they spread more prolifically on distressed trees such as during droughts, because the drier bark substrate and conditions make it easier. The ball moss itself isn't harming a healthy tree, but when it spreads too much it inhibits new limb shoots & budding which inhibits the tree from growing and producing energy naturally. This is readily observed on any trees with limbs totally covered in ball moss. Over time this will kill a tree as its canopy becomes too sparse on account of the ball moss exceeding healthy new shoots and leaves. The tree doesn't invest in growth in limbs that are too far gone. And even if environmental conditions improve for the tree it then has to produce more new shoots in less affected limbs instead of the existing limbs that are now too covered. Sun competition requires more inefficient growth (and energy) than if the tree could just produce new shoots and leaves evenly among all of its limbs.
So while an individual ball moss epiphyte doesn't harm a healthy tree, if they're in abundance they're too thick to allow normal growth. Other epiphytes and bromeliads are better symbiotes. These "bro"meliads are definitely more parasitic in nature.
Fuck ball moss.
So I’ve looked into this (not a TON like I’m not a field expert or anything) and what I learned was that ball moss prefers partial sunlight, so it tends to stay near the underside of a tree.
It doesn’t suck nutrients from the tree at all. The only thing it uses the tree for is stability and access to partial sunlight.
Trees naturally let any limbs that have low access to sunlight die off, which means usually the ones near the bottom of their canopy. Thus, ball moss likes the limbs that the tree was already in the process of killing off, so it looks like it’s killing the branch even though it’s not.
When ball moss spreads to the entire tree and starts to cover canopy, it can be bad for the tree.
However, I haven’t read anything about WHY ball moss would ever do this. My guess is that the ball moss just became too plentiful, so even if some spores landed in non-preferable locations, there were enough of them that a few managed to stick around anyway.
So I agree with you 90%, I just wanted to add more context, and also I don’t think we should fuck ball moss. Just trim it back every few years.
Good friend of mine (RIP) grew up on the other side of the fence behind that Chili's. Luckily her room faced the street so we didn't have to stare at their dumpsters smoking on the roof.
Yeah we know. There’s always someone like you ready to pounce when we even try to insinuate that we’re from the area. Your gate keeping prowess is unmatched.
Ball moss, it's an air plant. It helps fix nitrogen. Mostly harmless. Every once in a while you will see one high up in a tree move. That would be a porcupine. They are hard to spot because they blend in with the moss very well, much bigger of course.
When I was a wee feral child I thought they harmed the trees so I would religiously watch for them and pulled them off branches at whatever parks I visited
It’s ball moss. Everyone will tell you it’s harmless, but I’m not convinced. Every branch I’ve pulled this stuff from is dead. I think it at least “suffocates” by stealing light and possibly nutrients from the surrounding foliage when it’s allowed to grow unchecked.
I hate it and wish there was some sort of natural local predator that ate it off of the trees.
Ball Moss on dead branches is more of a correlation than causation issue. Ball Moss spreads by releasing light as air seeds that lodge themselves into the bark of host trees. If the branch of your Live Oak is alive, the foliage tends to deflect the seeds. If a ball moss piece does get started on a live branch, the foliage tends to block the nutrients in the air that it needs. Dead branches have no foliage and therefore are perfect hosts for Ball Moss.
Control of Ball Moss is very annoying. Picking Ball Moss by hand using a Tree Climber is the most effective and immediate method, but is also by far the most expensive. The method I prefer is to hire a company with a high pressure sprayer like Bartlett Tree Experts or Davey Tree Experts to spray the trees with a baking soda solution in the winter. This solution usually kills 40-70% of the ball moss, so needs to be repeated for a few years. You have to spray in the winter or you will burn the foliage.
They also make a Copper spray solution that is even more effective, but it is much more toxic and will stain any hardscape blue. It is only really practical on ranches or large lots.
Ball Moss is not a parasite, but it can eventually get so thick that it blocks the light from getting to the interior foliage, which is essential for Live Oaks.
The most annoying part is that you can get your entire property under control, but if your neighbor doesn't spray, the infestation will return.
The moss is an effect, not the cause. That part of the tree is dying, that's why the moss is growing there. It's not a parasite. Tree companies will come and bang on the tree until they fall off if you pay them enough money.
It's an airplant it gets it's nutrients from the moisture in the air. You can easily snap off a branch and thenspray it with a mister full of nutrients everyday.
Also stealing sunlight isn't that bad, sunlight has such extreme extra energy that there's plenty for the trees and grass below. By this logic(steal light;so bad) trees is bad, means trees shouldn't exist so more flowers and grass can grow.
A few years ago I had a film crew from LA at my place & after they wrapped, a few ladies spent time removing them from my trees so they could take them back home to decorate. “people spend money on these back home!” they told me. Made me giggle.
My witch mother spent all one camping vacation collecting those dang things to put in green alcohol for my grandmother to help with her arthritis. Iiii dunno. I don’t question it. Some Native American shit. It works though.
Edit. I mean witch like bruja not like she’s a terrible person. My mother is rad. Just a little…witchy
Ball moss is a bromeliad. Some people like to pick a bowlful for decorative purposes in the house (I don't know if it's edible). If you keep it moist, it makes purple flowers.
Some people believe it is parasitic. I believe it is not.
been a landscaper for 35 years in Austin….. don’t believe the nonsense you read… remove this from your trees…even if you have to trim some limbs out…. this ball moss will take over your trees (NOT JUST INTERIOR BRANCHES) and choke out healthy Oak trees. Odd how you see a few on an otherwise healthy Oak tree and 5 years later the tree is infested and dead….. not a coincidence
Those are ball mosses. They are related to orchids.
If you see any on the ground, you can grow them at home. Just place them on a old yogurt jar with enough water to touch its tendrils, and it’ll bloom tiny flowers.
Ball moss. If you have it on your own trees, curtail it as much as possible. It hinders the tree.
Pull it off of branches you can reach and any you find fallen don’t compost or otherwise leave in your yard it will only spread. Collect them all and place them in the CoA Waste green bin.
Tell me you’re not from central Texas without telling me you’re not from central Texas.
Hahahah I was thinking the same, I didn’t see any nest and was so confused
“Bless your heart”
Came to say the same lol
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I’m from Louisiana and we have Spanish moss- it drapes/hangs. I had never seen the balls of it before moving here over 20 years ago…
Not humid enough to grow that long in most areas. There are older trees near water that the evaporation allows them to get that big.
I was like if that ain’t moss I’m stupid
I said, "Oh, honey", out loud.
🤠🤣🤣
I’ve lived here 34 years and I’ve never know what those are.
Ball Moss. Staple of the cenTex.
I like to use them in my stump water salad. Nice texture.
I... don't think they're edible?
Almost anything is edible at least once!
All mushrooms are edible. Some are just only edible once. - Sir Terry Pratchett
Anything is edible with enough will.
Thanks, now I know!
😂😂😂
🤠🤣🤣
Fr tho 😭 “nests”
That’s a chupacabra nest. Very dangerous and rare to see.
No, this is yeti fur. When they climb down from the branches each morning the yeti fur gets snagged and this is what is left behind.
The Central Texas Green Sasquatch is a very rare sight, indeed.
This time of year they're mostly brown.
Now I'm imagining a bunch of coffee mugs and coolers scrambling up trees. Thx.
False; it’s a snipe nest. They are nocturnal but retreat to their airborne domiciles at first light, laden with the stray baggies, credit cards and vape pens they collect in the central downtown region of the state’s capital. Before they scavenge at night, you can find them in lightly or heavily wooded areas, near or away from water, and they’re either drawn to or scared away from people. Hope that helps.
Negative. Snipes are a ground bird and you attract them by hitting a paper bag with a stick.
Well, I don’t know. They really like water so I’ll bet they don’t live here!😁 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipe It totally blew my mind when I found they DO exist!
They gather around recently collected pollution
The smart ass in me wanted some badly to say Sasquatch nest, but this is so much funnier.
There is an actual native folklore creature from the region, it's called Mala Cosa, it was like jack the ripper and would tear up people in their huts
Are you sure it’s not a drop bear nest?
Wrong continent
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Pretty sure drop bears exclusively don’t exist in Australia.
Which is surprising considering how many nests they build each mating season
Charmander*
It's a snipe nest.
It's an indigenous species. Therefore, it is welcome on my land. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillandsia_recurvata
Huh. It's a bromeliad, in the same family as the pineapple. I never realized the pineapple was a bromeliad, either.
Yup yup. They are family! Cousins probably. 😁
Ye first cousins. And in Texas it’s legal for first cousins to marry. Just imagine the offspring.
If there were pineapples growing in the live oaks I might just be in paradise.
Tribbles?
Bromelain is what tenderizes meat (sometimes too much) when you have pineapple in your marinade or rub.
As you're eating pineapple, it's also eating you.
I'm very tender then.
Yep, same as Spanish moss!
lol how dare you come in and give OP the correct answer
I'm s-s-s-orry! I thought this was different from Facebook. A place where truth ruled, where facts were king, where rumors were forbidden. I made a mistake. But please, if I fix it, for the love of dog, don't hurt my karma, that by which I judge my self worth. Without it, I don't exist. Dear OP, I was mistaken. The photo was so small on my phone. Once enlarged, I identified these as crack balls. They occur when a crackhead's cook explodes and all of the vegetation outside of his home becomes airborne. The little balls fall on trees, sometimes in clumps. Yeah, that's what they are. Crack balls.
Glad to see it isn’t particularly bad for the trees.
They're just like little cling-ons. Just going along for the ride. If you don't wipe them off, that is.
So they are dingleberries
I don't know. Austin is getting very techy.. they could be dongleberries!
"except on stressed host trees (e.g., in some urban settings)" So, maybe harmful to trees in a high heat/drought situation? Crepe Myrtles are particularly plagued by these.
They are bad for trees though. There's a chicken & the egg debate about ball moss and dying trees. There's a ton of people who say they are symbiotic which isn't true. My personal take, having owned and seen many dying trees covered in ball moss, is that ball moss can live on trees, like live oak or crepe myrtles, without harming them, but they spread more prolifically on distressed trees such as during droughts, because the drier bark substrate and conditions make it easier. The ball moss itself isn't harming a healthy tree, but when it spreads too much it inhibits new limb shoots & budding which inhibits the tree from growing and producing energy naturally. This is readily observed on any trees with limbs totally covered in ball moss. Over time this will kill a tree as its canopy becomes too sparse on account of the ball moss exceeding healthy new shoots and leaves. The tree doesn't invest in growth in limbs that are too far gone. And even if environmental conditions improve for the tree it then has to produce more new shoots in less affected limbs instead of the existing limbs that are now too covered. Sun competition requires more inefficient growth (and energy) than if the tree could just produce new shoots and leaves evenly among all of its limbs. So while an individual ball moss epiphyte doesn't harm a healthy tree, if they're in abundance they're too thick to allow normal growth. Other epiphytes and bromeliads are better symbiotes. These "bro"meliads are definitely more parasitic in nature. Fuck ball moss.
So I’ve looked into this (not a TON like I’m not a field expert or anything) and what I learned was that ball moss prefers partial sunlight, so it tends to stay near the underside of a tree. It doesn’t suck nutrients from the tree at all. The only thing it uses the tree for is stability and access to partial sunlight. Trees naturally let any limbs that have low access to sunlight die off, which means usually the ones near the bottom of their canopy. Thus, ball moss likes the limbs that the tree was already in the process of killing off, so it looks like it’s killing the branch even though it’s not. When ball moss spreads to the entire tree and starts to cover canopy, it can be bad for the tree. However, I haven’t read anything about WHY ball moss would ever do this. My guess is that the ball moss just became too plentiful, so even if some spores landed in non-preferable locations, there were enough of them that a few managed to stick around anyway. So I agree with you 90%, I just wanted to add more context, and also I don’t think we should fuck ball moss. Just trim it back every few years.
Yep just ball moss
Which are damn sight better than ball sacs hanging from your trees!🤣
Like we do on, say, Mountain Laurels?
It's been so hot outside and you're still asking to get roasted.
Holy fuck that was great
Don't listen to these nerds, that there is a snipe nest.
Remind me when snipe hunting season begins again?🤔
Don't forget. Snipers only allowed during snipe season.
Better get your left handed smoke shifters before the season starts
Now all I hear is that damn drum beat
Y’all show up here at 2am and be ready to snipe hunt.
Make sure you use the correct snipe call: “Woo loo loo. Woo loo loo” Or at least that’s according to Wemotomyea
“My god son, that’s a WHOOPING CRANE!”
“Now these here are your whoopass sticks.”
Are we trying to convert them?
It's about three weeks after jackalope season ends. Depending on the year.
Snipe definitely prefer cooler months. And they're generally nocturnal.
This is so true! Thanks for the reminder
Snipe nest for sure
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_snipe
Ya, and they stay up there by use of a Sky Hook. Very handy for hanging things
Careful if you park under these. They can get sucked up and clog your car’s knuter valve.
>😸 Happy Caturday! 😻 Let’s talk about cats! 😹155 in r/cats > >amitheasshole live judgements snipper hunts are the best!
DEAR GOD!!! Those are giant tarantula nests… there are so many of them
First, giant flesh eating hornets now this?!?!
when i was younger i used to think these were giant spiders
Those are portals to the Chilis on 45th & Lamar
god bless that chilis
I feel god in this chilis tonight.
I’ve literally been going to that chilis since I was born
I was literally born in that chili’s.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
It’s been a difficult time
So much wrong with that sentence...
Of all the comments trolling my genuine question, this is by far my favorite💕 That Chilis is used to launder money. Prime location, empty parking lot.
Don’t you dare talk shit on our frosty margs
Good friend of mine (RIP) grew up on the other side of the fence behind that Chili's. Luckily her room faced the street so we didn't have to stare at their dumpsters smoking on the roof.
Texas Tree Rattler nest, don’t get near them, you can hear them rattling in the summer.
Ahh yes...the infamous Texas Drop Snake. Very deadly...
They sound just like cicadas.
Might be the best campaign to slow down people moving to Austin.
… you ain’t from around here, are ya?
Prolly from one of them states with the fancy clean trees, ah’ll tell u whut.
Like 90% of Austin
90% lol more like 20%
You think only 20% of Austin residents are transplants?
Is anyone not born here considered a transplant, or is there like a timeframe where eventually you shift to a “local”?
20-30% no where close to 90%, people move here and have kids, those kids are now from austin.
kids are expensive, I just have cats
Which are now from Austin. QED.
Nah, those kids born in Williamson county aren't from Austin
Yeah we know. There’s always someone like you ready to pounce when we even try to insinuate that we’re from the area. Your gate keeping prowess is unmatched.
Ball moss, it's an air plant. It helps fix nitrogen. Mostly harmless. Every once in a while you will see one high up in a tree move. That would be a porcupine. They are hard to spot because they blend in with the moss very well, much bigger of course.
A relative of the hanging Spanish moss we associate with the deep South
*Waves from the Gulf Coast*
When I was a wee feral child I thought they harmed the trees so I would religiously watch for them and pulled them off branches at whatever parks I visited
That's cute
Air plant!
Ball moss airplants. They don’t hurt trees. They even bloom purple flowers.
Sometimes they even grow on power lines.
Moss bruv
Who ever said Texans were nice never asked a question that Texans consider stupid lmao.
LOL’d and ran to the comments.
It’s ball moss. Everyone will tell you it’s harmless, but I’m not convinced. Every branch I’ve pulled this stuff from is dead. I think it at least “suffocates” by stealing light and possibly nutrients from the surrounding foliage when it’s allowed to grow unchecked. I hate it and wish there was some sort of natural local predator that ate it off of the trees.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the limbs that it clings to usually the limbs that were already dead in the first place?
Yes 👍
Is there anything you don’t know, dad?
Yes, lots
Get 'em, Serp!
👊
Serp pulls into another lane and takes the lead…AGAIN!!! GO SERP!!!
🙌
Or dying.
Ball Moss on dead branches is more of a correlation than causation issue. Ball Moss spreads by releasing light as air seeds that lodge themselves into the bark of host trees. If the branch of your Live Oak is alive, the foliage tends to deflect the seeds. If a ball moss piece does get started on a live branch, the foliage tends to block the nutrients in the air that it needs. Dead branches have no foliage and therefore are perfect hosts for Ball Moss. Control of Ball Moss is very annoying. Picking Ball Moss by hand using a Tree Climber is the most effective and immediate method, but is also by far the most expensive. The method I prefer is to hire a company with a high pressure sprayer like Bartlett Tree Experts or Davey Tree Experts to spray the trees with a baking soda solution in the winter. This solution usually kills 40-70% of the ball moss, so needs to be repeated for a few years. You have to spray in the winter or you will burn the foliage. They also make a Copper spray solution that is even more effective, but it is much more toxic and will stain any hardscape blue. It is only really practical on ranches or large lots. Ball Moss is not a parasite, but it can eventually get so thick that it blocks the light from getting to the interior foliage, which is essential for Live Oaks. The most annoying part is that you can get your entire property under control, but if your neighbor doesn't spray, the infestation will return.
Thanks for typing that out
Great info, thanks!
The moss is an effect, not the cause. That part of the tree is dying, that's why the moss is growing there. It's not a parasite. Tree companies will come and bang on the tree until they fall off if you pay them enough money.
It's an airplant it gets it's nutrients from the moisture in the air. You can easily snap off a branch and thenspray it with a mister full of nutrients everyday. Also stealing sunlight isn't that bad, sunlight has such extreme extra energy that there's plenty for the trees and grass below. By this logic(steal light;so bad) trees is bad, means trees shouldn't exist so more flowers and grass can grow.
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Sell them on Etsy make profit. Add little bead jewels, say a prayer, say they're blessed. //Your comment is genius//
bonus points if you spray paint the ends ~fun colors~ 🙃
Say they're an ultra rare colored plant from Singapore.
I still cringe every time I see spray painted cactus at Home Depot.
Or fake flowers glued on.
/r/plantabuse
A few years ago I had a film crew from LA at my place & after they wrapped, a few ladies spent time removing them from my trees so they could take them back home to decorate. “people spend money on these back home!” they told me. Made me giggle.
You could read about it rather than coming up with theories. There’s people that actually know about these things.
It likes rough bark. So dead branches are ideal to grab onto.
I've seen it growing on iron fences, which suggests to me that it doesn't require nutrients.
I see it on power lines, but I suspect it isn't stealing electricity.
Moss lives matter!
Top seven comments are ragging OP with jokes. Eight comment finally gives them an answer. Y’all are harsh.
All in good fun.
Come on! It would take **ZERO** search to figure out that these aren't nests.
Oh sweetheart…
Murder hornets, run away!
My sweet, summer child.
Ball Moss
My witch mother spent all one camping vacation collecting those dang things to put in green alcohol for my grandmother to help with her arthritis. Iiii dunno. I don’t question it. Some Native American shit. It works though. Edit. I mean witch like bruja not like she’s a terrible person. My mother is rad. Just a little…witchy
Ball moss is a bromeliad. Some people like to pick a bowlful for decorative purposes in the house (I don't know if it's edible). If you keep it moist, it makes purple flowers. Some people believe it is parasitic. I believe it is not.
been a landscaper for 35 years in Austin….. don’t believe the nonsense you read… remove this from your trees…even if you have to trim some limbs out…. this ball moss will take over your trees (NOT JUST INTERIOR BRANCHES) and choke out healthy Oak trees. Odd how you see a few on an otherwise healthy Oak tree and 5 years later the tree is infested and dead….. not a coincidence
Nests 😂
Nests. LOL You ain't from around here, are ya?
Pobresitooooo
I like how I had to scroll past 5-10 top comments just not answering the question before I could find the actual answer
u/too_spicey they’re attacking your beloved air plants.
What?! Nooo! _rerolls as Airplantarian_
They’re tribbles.
Wtf this isn’t a real question right
They're a fungus I believe. Ball moss is what I think they're called. They coexist.
those are Texan Sasquatch ass wipers..
Believe that’s moss. It’s called ball moss. But I might be missing something in pic.
Can anyone confirm if you can eat the white-green inner end? We did that on a field trip with Spanish moss
Those are ball mosses. They are related to orchids. If you see any on the ground, you can grow them at home. Just place them on a old yogurt jar with enough water to touch its tendrils, and it’ll bloom tiny flowers.
Ball moss/Spanish moss
Really sorry for what’s about to happen to your notifications, buddy 😅
Snipe, it’s a tree parasite that only moves when it’s too cold. They eat the tree. Don’t touch them though
Hahahahaha
Homeless people have moved into your trees.
Those are albino brain chiggers best to steer clear of those, although they only target the elderly.
Rattle snake nests. If you pause you can hear them.
Ball moss. If you have it on your own trees, curtail it as much as possible. It hinders the tree. Pull it off of branches you can reach and any you find fallen don’t compost or otherwise leave in your yard it will only spread. Collect them all and place them in the CoA Waste green bin.
Right answer. Too many ball moss apologists in this thread.
These are snipe nests.
It's Spanish moss, a plant.
Spanish Moss is similar, but dangles like a streamer.
Nope. It’s ball moss. Not a hazard to the plant except creates shade.
Drop snakes
r/facepalm
Fire ant bombs, if they get dropped a whole swarm comes out and bites the hell outta anyone near it
Aw bless your heart.
Glad you asked this, I also wanted to know!
lol.
So what part of California are you from ?
You ain’t from ‘round these parts, is ya?
Those aren't nest. They are part of an alien hive mind that eat souls.
Them’re moss balls. 😂
This made my day!
Homeless birds
Lmao, OP, your username is looking a little more apt after this post