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Tiki Central / Tiki Carving / pine wood

Post #174817 by Sabu The Coconut Boy on Tue, Jul 26, 2005 11:01 AM

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Sorry to hear that the Australian Casuarina Pine is harder to carve - Because Biologists and Botanists would be happy to have you cut all you want.

Because it's hardy, prolific, and a non-native species the Casuarina takes over space previously used by native plants. Furthermore, it prefers to grow in the same sandy soil that native species of rock iguanas need for nesting sites. In my work with endangered rock iguanas throughout the Caribbean, I've cut down and dug up several Casuarina pines that had taken hold in iguana nesting sites. If I had been a carver, I might have left lizard-faced tikis in their place as sacred protectors of the iguana eggs.

Sabu