In forestry, the term widowmaker or fool killer describes a detached or broken limb or tree top and denotes the hazards that such features cause, being responsible for causing fatalities to forest workers. – From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you ever find yourself close to a large pine tree,….look up because you probably shouldn’t be and this goes for parking your car as well.  These lower dead limbs can fall at any time, they don’t need wind, rain or snow to go. If you have large pines in areas where people naturally congregate, it’s a good idea to have someone come in a trim off the lower limbs.

photo by JC