stump of Manitoba Maple

I wonder how old that is by the rings.

It does...like a huge bird-like reptile.

Top half looks like animal's face on it !

In all my years working with my Dad in the wood lot I have to admit that acer negundo or box elder was not common in the western edge of southern Ontario and as such not a familiar tree to me when I encountered it here in Eastern Ontario. the first time I saw the large doubletrunked tree in my new front yard, I thought it was an Ash. It certainly had some of the less popular attributes of the ash, (and in some places it's known as ashleaf maple), because it's prone to irregular crown, wind damage, and it's messy. (it produces interesting keys, and drops twigs and branches constantly.) It blew apart in a windstorm (while I stood watching, actually.)
I researched it and found that it is very common to most of North America and even as far south as Guatemala! It was located too near the hydro wires so I had to employ a woodsman to come and take it down. Sadly he did not remove enough of the stump that I could bury the roots and let the natural rot reclaim them. He asked me if I wanted that last large chunk of trunk cut up for firewood. I decided that it was interesting and I wanted to leave it to see what weathering could accomplish. It looks to me now like a part-goose/part-archaeopterix! Actually toyed with the idea of painting "Jurassic Park" at the bottom and using it for a property name! Some days I'm feeling decidedly Jurassic! lol....

I love it and would put some kind of wood preservative on it its an amazing piece of wood ....

Ha ha.

I agree with Amy ... preserve it !

I was looking at it again...and Terra's right. In the area I was seeing as the bird's eye... it looks like a bear with it's mouth open! or maybe a raccoon. I might try to augment the features a little with a wood burner or a chisel... and some preservative! lol...

Ah.. yes ... that's what I see ... I've added a pic to my latest blog with arrows on it to show what I see !

I wish I was as savvy! How does one add arrows?

Have you found the pic ?
Can you see what I see ? ha ha

I added arrows using an old program on my ancient laptop !

Ohhh... don't know if I have that feature on my camera app... must check it out.