GIFs Show Real Trees Shaking To Life, Just Like The Movie Trees Of Our Nightmares

You may remember the terrifying apple tree in “The Wizard Of Oz” that slapped Dorothy’s hand away when she tried to pick some fruit. Maybe you’re more familiar with the ents from “The Lord Of The Rings,” or perhaps the Whomping Willow from “Harry Potter.” Any way you look at it ― when trees come to life in movies, they can be frightening.

But it appears that trees can actually shake to life in the real world, too.

There once was a time when fruit and nut harvest meant going out into the field with baskets and ladders to collect the goods from the trees. It evokes an idyllic image, but in reality it was painstaking work. Today, the process of harvest is an entirely different picture.

In about 50 percent of commercial harvests, enormous farm machines do the bulk of the work. They do so efficiently and quickly. And they do so by literally shaking the fruit off the trees.The machines shake the trees so quickly that the fruits and nuts just fall right off into a retractable net that catches them. It’s a bizarre sight to behold, but there’s also something mesmerizing about it.

This is what the shakedown of a cherry tree looks like.

And a few more, in GIFs, of course.

Almond harvesting

Apple harvesting

Pistachio harvesting

Olive harvesting