How quickly the forest can reclaim it's own

Jan 12, 2026 1:56 PM

iamthecomet

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When I was growing up, we moved around a lot in the same general area, and it would allow me to explore a great deal of the hill country. I used to find these little shacks just frozen in time it would seem, little glass bottles, old newspapers and medicines, all of them dating anywhere from the 50s to the 70s

One time I'll never forget though, I came across a one-room house with an old truck. All around and even inside, there were juniper trees. I couldn't figure out how the truck got there because to me the trees were always there. At 9 years old I couldn't really imagine the land without it. To my relief there was no dead man inside. I played in that truck for hours

Remember what the future could be.

Huh. I had a similar experience finding a shell of a car in the middle of the woods. And another time, not far away, just finding a pair of bucket seats in the woods.

7 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

When I see post-apocalyptic fiction where it's been years, but the place isn't overgrown, it just doesn't feel right. Not to mention in video games where it's supposedly been "thousands of years" and there are clearly visible "ancient ruins" all around.

7 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

As a kid I used to play in the ruins of my grandmother's barn. House was built in 1920 and at that point it was in the middle of a suburban neighborhood.

7 months ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

A fine example of 'ecological succession' - perfectly natural and normal - nothing to see here.

7 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

You need to keep up maintenance.

7 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Did you find the necronomicon already? I hear it’s a great book to read out lot to others

7 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

In '58, I 'helped' my Dad build a shed behind the big house. I looked on Google Earth and it's still being used 68 years later. They did paint it though...

7 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

You gotta remember trees were the original OG invasive species and actually caused a mass extinction greater than humans! Yay TREES ARE SCARY

7 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I don't know if it makes any difference, but you sound so much like my dad who passed.. you sound like him in tone and voice, but also in your message. It would delight him to no end to be reminded of the power of nature. I love this more than I can say!

7 months ago | Likes 16 Dislikes 1

@op isn't in this video.

7 months ago | Likes 9 Dislikes 0

Thanks ❤️

7 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

I know what I've got and I want 2.5 million for the house.

7 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

🎶We built this cabin
We built this cabin in a. pas.ture. 🎶

Maybe the trees are trying to reclaim their brethren

7 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Seeds still work

7 months ago | Likes 49 Dislikes 0

See deez

7 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 1

Hey I heard that what's-his-name got over to you yesterday

7 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 1

Still a pretty good forest rebuilding in less than 25 years. I say less than 25 years since they built that barn 25 yrs ago. I know plenty of plants that progess plenty quick, its the trees that surprise me the most

7 months ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

7 months ago | Likes 39 Dislikes 1

7 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Explains why as a kid, we'd sometimes find a car from the 60s or earlier in the middle of the forest.

7 months ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

7 months ago | Likes 19 Dislikes 1

Of course there's pasture - between the trees!

7 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Waste of a perfectly good barn!

7 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

As a rule of thumb any land in the temperate zone will revert to woodland when left alone. Scrub can dominate until a few trees begin to shade it out and access by grazers (eg deer) can suppress young trees.

7 months ago | Likes 39 Dislikes 0

At uni I learned that like 99% of my country would be beech forests. It's funny how humans are responsible for quite a lot of biodiversity.

7 months ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

I remember a documentary, "Life after humans" or something of the sort, how quickly would nature take over again. Sometimes a few years, decades, or even centuries but a thousand years and it's pretty much all gone.

7 months ago | Likes 20 Dislikes 0

The more durable forms of concrete would last indefinitely. They'd eventually be archeological discoveries by future civilizations but they'd still be there, buried sometime during the reclamation process.

Roman era concrete specifically has been discovered to "self-heal" under certain conditions, becoming even stronger sometimes.

https://www.science.org/content/article/why-modern-mortar-crumbles-roman-concrete-lasts-millennia

7 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I was just telling someone about that show the other day!

7 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Yep, that's it

7 months ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

I remember that too. Ironically, after all the cities would have gone and everything has gone back to nature, the last remnants of human life wouldn't be found on Earth but they'd be moon landers and space probes millions of miles away.

7 months ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

And the nuclear fallout from abandoned reactors

7 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Even that would fade in a couple million years.

7 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I believe some of the concrete buildings would still last a few thousand years, but they would get overgrown and be completely covered by vegetation so it would be near invisible.

7 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

They would collapse. Modern concrete buildings rely on waterproof cladding being maintained. They would largely collapse before they got to be thousands of years old.

7 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Life After People.

Freaking awesome series. Loved seeing how a museum in Nevada, powered by solar, would likely have the lights on and audio exhibits working for years and years. Palm Springs would also have power due to the wind turbines, which also powers the ferris wheel on the Santa Monica pier.

7 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Haha I couldn’t remember if that was what it was actually called or if I was misremembering

7 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I think I remember something about one of the massive dams being one of the longer lasting things!

7 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0