I was walking in the woods this morning and came across this tree. Any ideas as to what scratched up the bark. I'm thinking maybe a raccoon, as there are plenty of them around here. The leaves in the area were disturbed in patches, similar to the way a turkey forages. (It's not my house cats, they never venture very far from the house without me.
Wild Boar? They scent mark territory, especially during breeding season. They would also disturb leaves when foraging. Georgia is full of them. If that's what it is I'd pack a revolver when you walk in the woods. If you get between a Sow and her young or startle a Boar it could get VERY ugly.
If I didn't know any better, I'd say my husband backed into your tree with the trailer to our lawnmower and got stuck. I saw him do that once and the trailer ended up scraping downward as it buckled.
I knew wild pigs were destructive. I've seen some areas in Florida where they have literally trampled vegetation while rooting around for food. I know that their rooting is incredibly destructive in and of itself for a multitude of reasons but I didn't realize they scraped trees like that. Makes sense to me. The damage seems too low down to have been a deer and it doesn't seem to be beaver damage.
Well, not sure about the boars, but I suppose anything is possible. There are black bears in the area, I know that for sure.
Lauren,
Beaver damage??? NOT!!!
roseone,
If you have Bear you have wild Pig. I (how do they say it?) GAR-AN-TEE it!!! Look for "wallows" and scat. Be careful out there!!!
OK, Thanks for the heads up.
Mark, how about a beaver with a cute lil pig snout??? :)
LOL Equil.
Well, it couldn't be a Pig with Beaver teeth or there wouldn't be any woods left!!!
True. Too true. But that does make a funny picture. LOL
Here's some beaver damage I found photos of online-
http://www.easttennesseewildflowers.com/albums/Cove-Lake/Beaver_damage1.jpg
http://www.sticksite.com/beaver3.jpg
http://ed.fnal.gov/entry_exhibits/beaver/graphics/beaver_damage.jpeg
http://www.knls.org/images/akpic44.jpg
Beavers are so darn methodical, aren't they.
Hmmm, maybe her beavers are sneaking around behind her back sporting these in cahoots with her boars trying to throw her off track?
This is a good laugh but it's definitely not beaver. There isn't enough water in this particular area to support them. Only a small creek that meanders down at the bottom, virtually untouched in size and flow the past ten years I've been here.
Boars in plaid flannel and suspenders?
mg
Beaver are pretty methodical about their "dirty work" which is why I posted those photos so I'm pretty sure everyone knows that isn't the work of a beaver. The introduced wild pigs makes more sense with what Mark said. They're pretty darn destructive in so many other ways. Your tree should heal over on its own from the damage. Leave the wound open to the air and I suspect all will be well.
Now MG! That was my first guess. Like I said, if I didn't know better, I'd say my husband backed into her tree with the trailer to our lawnmower and got stuck.
Well, if there was any kind or road there I would have to agree with your theory. Reminds me of days of old when every spring my husband would harrow the garden right over my asparagus bed, despite being reminded.
The particular tree is on US forest service property with no roads or paths and quite steep too.
Hi, just saw this.
I am in the woods every day and what I see here looks like porcupine chewing. I have seen it alot here. Their teeth are like beaver only alot smaller.
chick, not sure if we have porcupines here. I'll have to check with Forest Service folks. Thanks for the input everyone.
How about male deer? Is the scratching too low? We have deer aplenty here.
"The common porcupine can be found in most of Canada and the western United States south to Mexico. In the eastern United States, it can be found in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York and New England."
http://www.nhptv.org/Natureworks/porcupine.htm
Too low for Deer for sure. They will scrape that low, but would be scraped higher, too, and they usually don't take on a tree that size.
Seems too low for deer and unless there's an escapee from the zoo, you're way too far south for porcupine. I have porcupine by me and they do damage trees.
No, not deer. It really, really, looks like the old porcupine to me. Next walk look up in the trees and see if you have a bump up there, They sleep in the trees during the day.
roseone33 gardens in Georgia. They don't have porcupine in Georgia but they do have introduced wild pigs.
I thought deer rubbings too. In AR I've seen them this low on pines.
~*~ Suenell
Didn't look like a deer rub to me. It looked like light chewing. Porkies chew close to the ground like that. Bobcats scratch deeper and do a whole section making shreads, bears are deeper yet and more refined. Deer do make different kinds of rubs, some brow tine rubs look like claw marks. No way to really know for sure unless you see the culprit. But my bet is still on the porky.
Sorry chick, but there are no porcupines anywhere around here. I checked with "The Authorities" . I will have to re-visit the area and see if any other trees in the area have makings.
mmmm, ok, what other kinds of big rodents do you have? Never seen a raccoon do that, or an opposum. It is a real mystery!
Nutria (Myocastor coypus) has extended its range that far north into Georgia. Another introduced species that does a tremendous amount of damage but the damage on her tree doesn't seem quite right to be Nutria.
Sorry, I don't know anything about any big rodents around here. I will revisit the area in the next few days and post an update. Thanks everyone for all the input.
More than you ever wanted to know about Nutria. Highly invasive and incredibly destructive-
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/aquatics/nutria.shtml
There are several good links if you scroll down. Photos included.
I'm continuing this thread on the Wildlife Forum. Maybe some folks there will have the answer. I went back yesterday and found some more markings on a nearby tree. Looks like a critter is chewing the bark.
(Don't know how to do a hyperlink, sorry)
