Does this look like a "big cat" scratching post to you? This happened to a tree in our yard last winter. There had been sightings of cougar and bobcat in our area the past couple of years. Has anyone else seen something like this before?
Big cat scratching post?
No, it doesn't look like any cat scratches to me.
Bobcats scratch about 2 to 3 feet from the ground and make the tree shready looking. (like the couch after your house cat gets it) The marks are not too deep and close together. Cougar, the same, only this guy reaches higher. Wild cats are very shy, usually will only go into a yard to pick up pets for food, not usually marking their territory.
Bears also mark trees with a swipe on the tree, but you can see the swipe and count the nails on the paw. You can usually follow the swipe with your hand.
Deer will rub their antlers on a tree and make strange markings like this, sometimes just taking the bark off from a whole area, but sometimes just digging a few gouges. Deer do not care if they are marking territory in someones yard.
My guess is that you have a buck around??
Hi cpartschick. Yes, a buck would be a good guess. We've had bucks scrape our trees before in the fall - in fact i just finished putting up plastic tree wrap on our young tree trunks to protect them - and missed one which a buck found of course. The scratches on the tree in the picture looked different from the buck scrapes i've seen on our other trees, and these marks appeared in late winter/early spring and buck scrapes tend to be made in the fall when they're trying to get that itchy velvet off. I agree that the scratches don't really look like a cat "shred". I've seen bear marks before (in Yellowstone NP), and I agree that these don't look like that. So I'm still stumped, so to speak. :)
Yes, pictures are not easy to see.
I had a whole long thread on shredded trees. Some of it was pretty funny.
Ha - i bet a thread on shredded trees would have some funny stories - and hopefully all had happy endings. So far, the bucks have "altered" several of our trees and shrubs, but none to the point of oblivion, thank goodness.
Here is a link to that old thread.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/705832/
Part two is shorter, shows a different section of the woods and some bear scratching. (I think)
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/725711/
Thanks for posting the links to those threads, cpartschick. So much funny commentary! I did a lot of LOL reading those. Yes, the scratchings on your trees are quite different from the ones on my tree - yours are absolutely shredded! And on so many trees! Mine will probably remain a mystery, but probably it's not a cougar. However, we do have cougars in the area. Attached is a print from last winter at my neighbor's place down the canal a couple of country blocks. One of their very old llamas had been killed near there a few weeks prior, mostly likely by a cougar. I wonder what that big cat thought about all of that llama fur, compared to a short-haired deer? Like face-planting cotton candy?
Sorry, I was on vacation.
Glad you liked the thread. It was pretty funny. What a great group here.
That photo is really something. The toes show up nicely, but not the pad and it almost looks like a thumb? kind of strange. Sure is big though!
Yes, looks like a big cat to me. I wonder how many lbs a 4 1/2 inch paw translates into?
A couple of summers ago, my neighbor got to see one running through her yard being chased by her dogs. Her daughter was standing on the deck holding her 4 month old baby at the time. Kinda scary!