If you happen to be wandering in the woods in the US and spot a particular colour painted on a tree, then you should probably get out of there sharpish.

There are many dangers when you’re out and about in the woods – not least the local flora and fauna.

And in bear country, it’s wise to probably avoid going out altogether unless you are properly equipped and either know what to do or are travelling with someone who knows what to do.

Walking through the woods is lovely but you should be aware of certain things. (Dan Reynolds Photography / Getty)

But if you see a purple stripe painted on a tree trunk, then it’s not the bears that you have to worry about.

And no, before anyone thinks it, it’s also not a warning of cryptids or witchcraft either.

The strips are actually a clear warning which has been put there for anyone who happens to be passing by the area.

But what on earth do these strange stripes actually mean?

Well, it’s actually all to do with demarcating land boundaries.

Purple paint means stay away (psu.edu)

So if you see a tree which is marked with a purple stripe, in certain states including Florida, Texas, Alabama, and South Carolina that means you’re about to enter private property.

And aside from using purple markers to set property boundaries, those states also have a rather lax attitude towards gun ownership.

So this being the US, you would probably want to avoid being confronted by an irate landowner brandishing a weapon that differs from a military one only in that it can’t shoot automatically.

Unsurprisingly, using a random purple stripe to demarcate whether someone is on private property does have its drawbacks.

Not least is that someone who is not familiar with what this means won’t recognise the sign and mistakenly wander onto private property.

Many people instead advocate for placing up signage which clearly tells people that they are about to enter private property.

Among them is Andy Mossey, the stewardship and advocacy coordinator at the Catskill Center.

Andy spoke to the Times Union in 2021 saying: “The advantage to signage is that anyone who is walking by a boundary can easily read that there’s a private land boundary,

“If it’s just purple paint with no signage, people may be less likely to understand what that is unless the state itself and organizations across the state have done a significant job getting that info across to all visitors.”

There’s also the issue that if you allow people to determine where their private property begins then you might find boundaries being placed a little further into public land than they should be.

In any case, if you are hiking in the woods and see this, it’s best not to go any further.