What is evidence?

[Arkilogue]

What about the specific situation where I found lack of evidence of spike holes? Is that "evidence" he was not using spikes to climb?

Not the same question, is it, subtleties matter.  That something is evident, or in parlance -is- evidence..is one thing..what it's evidence -of- is another.  Copuldn;t answer that one for you from where I sit.  You seem to have offered at least one reason why it might not be.

(Burning trees tend to light other things on fire, exploding trees make a much larger mess to clean up including broken windows, high velocity impaling and blood. Much of my work is right next to houses.)

What kind of asshole builds a house next to trees that need to come down?  Clearing the forest is step one in the human playbook. 

But what I found was lack of evidence of something that "should" have been there. But in the same hand without the "should" I also did not find giant round tracks with 4 toenails so it was evident he was not using an elephant to trim the tree....which also would have been safer.

I know right? Freaking hippies..."I want to save the tree and build a courtyard around it!"..."Now I need to cut it down because it's cracking the foundation and destroying the roof!"

Me: "Great, now you can pay me all the extra money it will take to gently lower everything onto your roof and deck.....call me when you do it again."