People who know George Breese sometimes refer to him as "George of the Jungle." That's because the 26-year-old Atlantic man climbs and carves trees for a living.

He said he began carving one day when he was 23 years old. He grew tired of simply climbing trees and decided to carve a picture into one.

"I made an eagle and it looked more like a buzzard. But I kept doing it and doing it," he said.

He said he couldn't get the beak to look right, so his wife Brandi bought him a book to look at.

Eventually his carvings advanced to more complicated animals like bears. Mrs. Breese said she helped him with sanding and other details like painting the animals. They've been doing it together for three years.

Calling on Breese's nickname, the couple started a business, George of the Jungle Tree Trimming, and began doing the carvings all year long.

"We just have fun doing what we do," said Mrs. Breese.

Breese said he began climbing trees after he started helping with cleanup efforts in North Carolina after Hurricanes Dennis and Floyd. He said that experience taught him a great deal about tree safety.

"I got a crash course on tree work," he said. "I learned a lot about climbing and tree danger around power lines."

Now the Breeses make about three carvings a week. Most everything Breese carves now is done off the top of his head. After a tree gets chiseled, the Breeses dry it, then oil or urethane it. People who call either want the Breeses to do carvings or take down unwanted trees in their yards, which they take home and use for carvings.

"People pay us to take their trees and we make money off of them," Mrs. Breese said. "We call it fancy firewood."

Breese said most carvers use pine for carvings because it's soft, but he can hew just about any tree. Recently he started working with a cabin maker and is going to help do designs on posts. He also recently began carving tree stumps for people. He's already carved several bears into stumps and plans to do a cowboy soon.

To carve a live tree, Breese said, he wears spikes on his legs to help his climbing. The spikes run from the inside of his knees to his feet, and he also carries a rope and a chainsaw. He said climbing keeps him in good physical condition.

"You have to be in pretty good shape to do this. I entered the Strong Man contest in Greenville last year and won the $500. I never lifted a weight, but most of the guys who entered the contest lifted weights on a regular basis."

The tallest tree he's ever carved was 20 feet high, though most carvings range from 2 to 10 feet. The most unique carving he's done was an owl into a tree that had one limb. But, he said, his most prized carving was an Indian he did from memory. He got the idea from an statue that he saw in May's, a local convenience store in Sheakleyville that burned recently.

Mrs. Breese said once she tried to do an owl carving, but it didn't turn out the way she expected.

"It was a fat, ugly owl. I quit because of the sawdust," she said. "It's not easy. (Carving) is something most people don't try to do. It's a unique skill."