Is this the work of woodpeckers? The top of the tree has many round holes, so I know there have been woodpeckers at it. But these holes and stripping/gouging of the bark are at the tree's base. I took this Sunday at the Heart of Ohio Girl Scouts camp, so let's hope it's not bears, LOL. :)
This message was edited Tuesday, Apr 9th 12:47 AM
Wow - something was really going after that tree! Or what was in it. I wonder if it will survive.
Kimberley it could be a woodpecker of course but I've never seen the bark stripped that way. You know more about your critters than I do and don't deer eat bark? I know rabbits do!!
Thought maybe that it may have been struck by lightening a bit,but don't see no splits in the tree from the picture. What does the rest of the tree look like?
Any possibility of two legged critters doing the damage??
The question is, how long have you had an eye on this tree?...is this the first time you've seen the tree? It sorta looks like the holes were made and then the bark around it died and somewhat fell off. You can see how dead it looks from the picture. My guess is that something made the holes and the bark fell off over time. Something else may have come along and pulled some of the bark off after it was getting loose. Just my guess.
First time I saw it was Sunday. Since it's at a the private property of the girlscout camp, I doubt if I can get back there to take any more pictures. I was just so curious! :) Up toward the top, the tree was dead and dry, with lots of big round holes.
Kimberley the middle hole - the one that is the most clear in the picture - seems almost perfectly round as though a large bit on a drill has been used. I'm not saying it has, but could be that the damage has been incurred by humans after all!!
It does look that way in the picture, but it was a lot rougher in person. I wonder if some of the damage was begun by birds, then aggrevated by some girlscouts' idle hands. ;)
We have a tree with much the same damage..it was alive when we bought the place in '96. I don't think the former owner fed the birds,but we do. Since moving in the woodpeckers and sapsuckers have done a number on the tree...it is now riddled with holes,has lost bark and seems pretty much dead.
Woodpeckers search for bugs. If the tree had a good selection of bugs ... I think they'd drill a hole anywhere they thought they could get at them - high or low.
They used to peck at the wood porch in my last home and that really did upset me. Wonder what insect they were after there!!
Hopefully some big, juicy guy who got fat munching on your flowers, Margaret. :)
lol - Actually Kimberley I was thinking more on the lines of something that shouldn't have been there. Termites?? Although we did have the place inspected and cleared before we sold it!! Ye Gads!!
Louisa - I know woodpeckers will pound on metal objects too ... like mailboxes & metal poles. Not sure but I think it's the vibrations that make them think there are bugs there. It could be something in your house caused vibrations to trick him.
Do they do it to mark their territory, too, like a songbird's songs? It wouldn't make sense for them to repeatedly hammer on something non-productive. Almost all animals have a method to their madness, although some do just play. :)
Then that's definitely the answer then - it heard me singing!! I have been known to bring the house down!! lolol!!!
