The meat eating trees of the Pacific Northwest
Anyone who has spent time in the woods, will recognize that there are different risks compared with the precautions needed in the city. Most will think about wild animals as a threat, and the prepper-minded might want a to bring along a book of dangerous plants.
Those drawn to mystery, may decide that the darkness itself, or the fear of bigfoot is the scariest thing to contend with. In the forest, shadows and sounds are abundant, which lend ample building material to the imagination.
Yet, there is a little known, risk rumored to have been a danger unique to the Pacific Northwest, that falls into both categories.
The Dabi-Gobi was, or is, a carnivorous tree. The few old men and women who recall the story, have said the Dabi-Gobi grow quickly with protein reaching 40' in 20 years.
A Dabi-Gobi will commonly grow and form a large hollow opening alongside a walking trail, just big enough for a large plump child (or two small ones) to squeeze into.
Legend states that, if ever a child (animals instinctively avoid) was to wander inside of the inviting hollow of the Dabi-Gobi, they risk their own safety. The child who enters, moving atop the roots below the tree hollow trigger the Dabi-Gobi to release a fast-acting ethylene gas, causing euphoria, then lethargy. The tree then closes its mouth, digestive juices do the rest. A veritable human size Venus fly trap.
A Riverpass legend, fact or fiction.
Over a century ago in the Pacific Northwest, when people walked slowly along dirt roads and paths to get from place to place, some children were still being told not to sit or play around the openings in the trees when traveling from place to place.
Many old trees, overgrew and crowded the trail that they had grown alongside. Some were cut down and inside were found small rubber shoe soles, buttons, and buckles all encased in the wood surrounding them. Being the inorganic items that the tree could not digest.
Whether this be truth or legend, or maybe folk memory about an extinct carnivorous tree, who can fully know?
Since there are many trees that fit the Dabi-Gobi profile within the Riverpass Retreat we strictly advise guests of The Riverpass Retreat and especially their children, to not play in or on any trees that are outside of the Lil’ Cedars Playground, for the tree’s protection, but just maybe for their own as well.
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