Tree shaking is a big part of advancing in this game and not just for harvesting fruit.
When you walk up to a tree and shake it sometimes items the game calls, “furniture" falls out in the shape of a leaf. It can be anything from a paint set to an entire couch.
It may seem unrealistic for furniture to fall out of trees, but if you think about it, there are trees such as the Tree of Life, the Tree of Desire and the Tree of Knowledge. Instead of giving one the desire to have the knowledge to acquire furniture, this game drops the entire thing magically out of the tree right there at your feet, for free! In real life the references to trees are so popular that you might be surprised if you looked up how many different meanings hide behind, up above, and deep into a tree.
Other times a coin worth 100 bells will fall onto the ground. Imagine if money really fell out of trees!
This is also where you get your tree branches from, which can be used in all kinds of DIY projects. The tree branch sells for 5 bells at Nooks Cranny. Not much, but also not bad for selling a stick you found on the ground.
Be warned however, shaking the wrong tree can get you stung. It’s best to hold a net for your own safety. That must be where the term “Shaking up the wrong tree” comes from. Or was that “Barking up the wrong tree”?
If you do get stung it’s not the end of the world or the game. You can simply wait it out and you will eventually heal from your swollen eye.
Or you can take medication which will magically cure you of your tragic situation instantaneously. You can buy medicine at Nooks Cranny for 400 bells per dose, or you can make your own assuming you own the DIY recipe.
The safest and most cost effective way to handle this however is to not get stung in the first place.
Before shaking stand directly in front of the tree while holding a net. If you hear a buzzing sound and see a swarm of wasps approaching, don’t panic, simply press the A button repeatedly until you catch them. You will impressively catch the entire swarm. You can then sell the wasps at Nooks Cranny for 2,500 bells. Why Timmy and Tommy put such a high price on this type of insect is beyond me. But they are always happy to buy them. Maybe it has something to do with making medicine, but it’s the wasp nest, not the wasps, that you actually need to make the concoction, that mixed with some random weeds in a crafty DIY medicine recipe. The nest sells for 300 bells. You can also sell your wasps to Flick the devilish-looking red Chameleon. He always pays top dollar, 3,750 bells per wasp swarm in an apparent attempt to find his forever bug soulmate. To each is own.
I always assumed if you catch a wasp and set it free because your pockets are full, it would sting you. Therefore I was careful to always swap it out. I accidentally set a wasp free after catching it and it turns out it just flies away without stinging you. I do not recommend doing that in real life. The wasp will most likely hang around in an upset state for knocking its home out of the tree, striking back when you least expect it.
