When I used to live in Maine, we used to have this Maple tree in our backyard. We never used it for maple syrup though. Anyway, instead... I would take a knife, scrape the bark and then come back the next morning. I would found the maple sap oozing from the spot I scraped. I would always lick it, and I know it sounds really weird... but it was actually REALLY good. It was so sweet. It was something I would do every winter when I climbed up to the top (I didn't like climbing it other seasons because of my fear of bugs/spiders). So yeah... I thought I'd share that weird little story with you. XD