What's the purpose of this "bucket"?

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   The Dirt Farmerposted 10 years ago

   What's the purpose of this "bucket"?
   
   People often trespass on a small farm that we own far from our home. While visiting this spring, we discovered this "bucket" hanging from a tree in the woods. It has a muddy substance coming from the spout. Any ideas what it is or what it might be used for? I thought it might be hunting related, as several deer were killed on the land in the fall, with only part of their carcasses removed.
   
   

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2. 0

   sheilamyersposted 10 years ago

   I have two questions ... What type of tree is it hanging from? Is there a metal spout driven into the tree and connected to the bucket? The reason I ask is because at first glance, I'm reminded of the buckets I've seen people use to collect sap in order to make syrup. Your description of the find makes me think that's not the purpose because, if it were, the spout at the bottom would be plugged so the sap would stay in the bucket unless the "sap thief" was in a big hurry and forgot to do that.

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   1. 89

      The Dirt Farmerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Sheila! That would be pretty cool actually, but . . . it's not connected to the tree other than that it's hanging from it by a wire.

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3. 68

   chefsrefposted 10 years ago

   Hey Jill
   Looks like a sap collecting bucket although I think you are too far south to be making maple syrup. Home in NH we would see farms with buckets like that fed to tubing to collect the sap for syrup.
   They do something similar with Birch trees and maybe others.
   Lee

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   1. 89

      The Dirt Farmerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Lee! That's a good guess, but the bucket isn't actually attached to the tree. It's just hanging from it by a wire that's attached to the handle. And it's fairly far away from the trunk. I have no idea what the damn thing is. (: It's a puzzlement!

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