I have all of these small branches laying on the ground all over my yard. The branches look cut perfectly round with a little tuft of wood in the center of the cut.
I live in zone 6 in Oklahoma. I notice it on my pecan and different varieties of trees.
I've got a photo I took today.
Squirrels
Al
Same observation here.
RBB
LOL
We use to have a dog that kept squirrels away. Of course, the dog died so that makes sense that the squirrels would move back in.
Thanks all.
Probably squirrels, but from your description of the cuts I think it's more likely to be twig-pruner insects. I've seen them do that on persimmons. Take a sample to your local extension office and ask them to look up what twig pruners might be active in your area on those species.
Guy S.
Thanks Guy. I'll call them.
I spoke with the O.S.U. country extension office master gardener in Tulsa, OK. Apparently, my problem is Twig Girdler Beetle. They are getting numerous reports of it right now.
Not much you can do about them. Recommendation is to pick-up down branches and dispose of them immediately. The eggs are on the branches. It is the female beetle who is neatly sawing these twigs off about a foot or two from the end of the branch.
It just seems like these branches are all over the yard this year.
You can find good pictures of how the limb looks like a neat circular cut with just a tiny tuft of wood in the center by going to google.
Thank you all again,
darlindeb
