What Is It

My first thought was that the barrels were installed on the trees to serve as some sort of nesting area for local birds

My friend found this thing when she was a child, back in the 1960s. It was found in a field just off of Johnston Street in Lafayette.

The cases contained the same items: a rope and a piece of sheet metal. Both pieces of sheet metal were bent in the same manner.

I saw an interesting tree in Lafayette today, and I have to try to find out what happened to it.
Can you see how most of the tree looks normal, but the tippy-top looks like a separate tree?
If you look closely, just under the part that looks new, there are some dry branches, and then the rest of …