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What critter did this?

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What critter did this?

Postby wawhitey » 02 26, 2018 •  [Post 1]

Found this on my property today. Bark on top of fresh snow, no tracks around the tree other than deer tracks. So im assuming a very motivated woodpecker? Seems like a lot of destruction for a bird to have caused, but the lack of small critter tracks makes me think it must have been an ambitious woodpecker. Any other thoughts?
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby wawhitey » 02 26, 2018 •  [Post 2]

Another note, the amount of bark on top of the fresh snow doesnt account for all of the bark missing on the tree, so this has clearly been an ongoing process
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby Elkhntr08 » 02 26, 2018 •  [Post 3]

Damned ol’ woodpecker!
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby wawhitey » 02 26, 2018 •  [Post 4]

Elkhntr08 wrote:Damned ol’ woodpecker!


Well hes been one busy s.o.b. then. Looks like hes determined to kill that tree. I know how stubborn they can be though, ive had one that declared war on my apple trees, and one that declared war on my house. Ill just say that, after a lot of attempted non violent discouragement, they lost. Im convinced those birds are every bit as loony as they are depicted in the old cartoons
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 02 26, 2018 •  [Post 5]

I have a photo of a similar looking tree I found in ID last or the previous year. Damn thing looked liked a pack of beavers climbed up it and stripped bark 15' up. Not sure what. I'll see if I can find the pic and post it up along with yours; perhaps it was the same type of tree wrecking critter?
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby Navesgane » 02 27, 2018 •  [Post 6]

Porcupine maybe?
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby wawhitey » 02 27, 2018 •  [Post 7]

Navesgane wrote:Porcupine maybe?


I shouldcsee tracks and furrows in the snow then. And likely tooth marks in the wood. Only tracks around the tree are deer
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby Elkhntr08 » 02 27, 2018 •  [Post 8]

We’ve repaired a lot of woodpecker damage on log homes. It’s flat out amazing how much damage one can do.
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby Swede » 02 27, 2018 •  [Post 9]

I believe it is a woodpecker too. You can see it was feeding on insects that were under the bark killing the tree.
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 02 27, 2018 •  [Post 10]

Ya know, it "could" be Swede prepping a tree stand and forgot to take off his corks?
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby Elkhntr08 » 02 27, 2018 •  [Post 11]

I was thinking squirrel too, but Swede sounds better.
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby >>>---WW----> » 02 27, 2018 •  [Post 12]

I'm guessing a porcupine did this a few years ago and eventually killed the tree. And now the remaining bark and limbs are starting to dry up and fall off.
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby wawhitey » 02 27, 2018 •  [Post 13]

Dont porkys girdle the trees though? And we do have porkys around here, but theyre extremely rare. Too many lions here for the porkys to do well.
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby Swede » 02 27, 2018 •  [Post 14]

I think you have woodpeckers going after Douglas-fir bark beetles. Did you see the tree when there were holes in the bark where what looked to be fine sawdust coming out of multiple holes appeared? The engraving under the bark looks like bark beetles.
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby wawhitey » 02 27, 2018 •  [Post 15]

Swede wrote:I think you have woodpeckers going after Douglas-fir bark beetles. Did you see the tree when there were holes in the bark where what looked to be fine sawdust coming out of multiple holes appeared? The engraving under the bark looks like bark beetles.


Im sure thats what it was, just seems like an awful lot of destruction for a woodpecker, but nothing else makes sense. Of course i do have a ton of woodpeckers here, of several varieties. Could have been the work of several birds. Im assuming that tree will die, then at some point fall, then get filled with bugs which will make my bears happy.
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby six » 02 28, 2018 •  [Post 16]

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Re: What critter did this?

Postby Lefty » 02 28, 2018 •  [Post 17]

look closer for teeth marks from a porky
What is on the snow looks like it could have
>>>---WW----> wrote:I'm guessing a porcupine did this a few years ago and eventually killed the tree. And now the remaining bark and limbs are starting to dry up and fall off.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby Swede » 02 28, 2018 •  [Post 18]

I would guess you had a Pileated Woodpecker. They can do a lot of damage thrashing a tree, and are common in your area.

Lefty, what I see on the ground around the tree are Whitey's boot prints and the marks from bark dropping to the ground. Do you see something else?
Porcupines do not tear off bark to get bugs. Porkys girdle a younger tree to get the moist cambium (inner-bark) layer.
Porkys girdle a tree while woodpeckers will go up a tree often on one side. The woodpeckers are following the bugs eating away beneath the cambium.

Whitey, I would watch the Douglas-fir trees around there and check for frass (fine saw dust looking material) on the bark. The frass will look show up as a small pile at the entrance of a small hole. Hopefully the beetles are not moving in to you neck of the woods. I am no authority on Bark beetles. I suspect they have left your tree and have moved on. There may be some left. At any rate I would make quick firewood out of any that show signs of beetle attacking them. I would keep an eye on the surrounding fir trees through the Spring. Beetles go for weaken trees especially those that are over crowded and not getting plenty of water.

Edit: I just read that Pileated woodpeckers diet is 98% Carpenter ants. The Pileated woodpecker is the second largest woodpecker in North America. and sticks around in the winter to forage. Whitey, you might get the County Extension Agent out to look at what you have. They will come out at no cost where I live. I have had them at my place. I am no forest entomologist for sure. When I saw a tree like yours on a timber project, I just marked it for cutting, and looked around to see evidence of other that were being attacked by bugs. They would get the same chainsaw treatment. :D
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby wawhitey » 02 28, 2018 •  [Post 19]

Thanks for the advice swede. I dont know about a county extension agent, but i have a friend in the dnr that i could probably get to swing by and take a look.
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby Lefty » 02 28, 2018 •  [Post 20]

>>>---WW----> wrote:,... And now the remaining bark and limbs are starting to dry up and fall off.

Not that a woodpecker didnt add to the mess, but Im still along with WW on this one
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby saddlesore » 03 01, 2018 •  [Post 21]

Initial damage was due to beetle kill .We see a lot of that around here.Then woodpeckers and other birds get in there to eat the larvae or eggs.After awhile,the bark falls off in pieces whether a bird gets after it or not. Look close and you should be able to see where the beetle larvae ate along the cambion layer before it matured and left the tree. The year before you will see pitch tubes up and down the trunk with a little bit of sawdust on the ground where the beetle enters the tree. If the pitch tube goes up 8-10+ feet high it is the pine beetle and they take a fungus into the heart of the tree that will kill the tree.This is seen as blue streaks in the wood when you cut i. If the pitch tubes only go up a few feet, it is what we call a turpentine beetle and that will not kill the tree.
Porcupines usually chew on the upper reaches of the tree where the bark is more tender. Never seen them go at the trunk.You can usually tell a porcupine tree by a lot of short green branches on the ground around the tree that the porcupine breaks off as they are eating the limb or main upper trunk.
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby Swede » 03 01, 2018 •  [Post 22]

I agree with Saddlesore except that Douglas-fir does not get blue stain. That is a disease for pine. Also Bark beetles do not bore into the heart wood. They are engravers that live just under the bark along the phloem layer.
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby wawhitey » 03 10, 2018 •  [Post 23]

Woah! Now THIS is a dedicated peckerwood! Wow!!!!
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Re: What critter did this?

Postby wawhitey » 03 15, 2018 •  [Post 24]

Pair of big pileated woodpeckers destroying one of my trees right now. Watching them bang away at it from my recliner.
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