The skeletons of dead and dying kaikawaka (Libocedrus bidwillii) emerge from a lower canopy in many areas around the southern Ruahine Range. The causes of the dieback are complex, but the introduced brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) probably plays a major part. I photographed these about halfway down Shorts Track after a night on the Ngamoko tops. The lower altitude forest in the background is predominantly southern beech (Nothofagus; probably red beech, N. fusca).
All content © 2009 Pete McGregor
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3 comments:
Perhaps it seems ironic that there is such beauty in death, but it is something that we need to explore in this great taboo. There is sometimes a beauty and rightness about death....but probably not when it results from being chewed by possums?
Luminous skeletons against the living green.
RR, I agree with all those thoughts, and have often thought about the way influence continues even after death — indeed, long after all memories have faded.
Zhoen, nicely put. :^)
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