Made me think of the old colored people around here that would bury tire in the ground and paint the top half white. Paint the first 4-5' of,a tree white too.
That was common when I grew up, too.
Knew an old white man that lived off by himself, in the creek bottom, and had a long straight driveway lined with trees. I was just a kid and would go see the man from time to time. Went to see him and some of the trees were ringed with white paint, but not all. I asked him about it and found out that someone had been giving him some trouble and the ringed trees were range markers. Never did hear of anything happening, but that wouldn't be uncommon. Lots of folks back then just took care of a problem and never mentioned it.
