# What animal eats dead bark off of a tree?



## Torch68 (Feb 2, 2016)

The picture below is of a dead oak, the bark has been nibbled away which at first I would think porcupine but have seen absolutely none around.


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## Creeker (Feb 2, 2016)

No idea about yr wildlife, but if you pull off some more of the bark is the trunk
marked with those same patterns ?

I suspect the marks are wood grub related from when the tree was green and growing.


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## Torch68 (Feb 2, 2016)

Creeker said:


> No idea about yr wildlife, but if you pull off some more of the bark is the trunk
> marked with those same patterns ?
> 
> I suspect the marks are wood grub related from when the tree was green and growing.



Let me take a look tomorrow, thanks Creeker


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## Sagetown (Feb 2, 2016)

Whatever it is, it's keeping the tree between it and the house, so it may be somewhat shy. Squirrels winter on tree bark, but that would take a lot of squirrels.


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## Gypo Logger (Feb 2, 2016)

Porcupines and ravenous Timber Tramps like to eat tree bark.


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## Torch68 (Feb 2, 2016)

Sagetown said:


> Whatever it is, it's keeping the tree between it and the house, so it may be somewhat shy. Squirrels winter on tree bark, but that would take a lot of squirrels.


It is interesting you mention squirrels as I waked down this evening in the dark (head lamp on) and in the general area I saw a flying squirrel taking the bark off of an old grape vine. Our attic was inundated with them when we first moved in two years ago until the exterminator did his work.


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## Torch68 (Feb 2, 2016)

Gypo Logger said:


> Porcupines and ravenous Timber Tramps like to eat tree bark.


I bet she has a tramp stamp


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## Sagetown (Feb 2, 2016)

Torch68 said:


> It is interesting you mention squirrels as I waked down this evening in the dark (head lamp on) and in the general area I saw a flying squirrel taking the bark off of an old grape vine. Our attic was inundated with them when we first moved in two years ago until the exterminator did his work.


That is interesting. I've only seen one flying squirrel in my life. My coon hound treed it one night. Tiny lil creature too.


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## Brushpile (Feb 2, 2016)

Horses will do that if they're not getting enough minerals.


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## Creeker (Feb 2, 2016)

See that in Aus. also B'pile - horses/cattle/wombats in paddocks with little feed left will
strip the bark off Stringy Bark Eucalypts, some being totally ring barked for about 2 or 3 feet
from the ground up.

Never seen the wood marked quite like that but the odd wood grub here will leave marks in the wood, but
more of a wandering hieroglyphic pattern and no where near as much as that.

Considered a deer coming into hard antler & rubbing but it doesn't match any of that I have seen. 

Interesting Q T68.


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## Gypo Logger (Feb 3, 2016)

The tell tale horizontal teeth marks don't suggest a porcupine, as they usually chow down in a verical fashion.
Probably just aliens, which is alright with me.


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## madhatte (Feb 3, 2016)

Horizontal marks may well be beetles. The bark was torn off vertically. The shreds on the far left are the best indication. As far up and down the stem as this is, I'd guess a bear, likely scraping bark off to get at the beetle grubs below. The claw marks aren't deep at all which suggests that the bark was already loose on the bole, a guess which is supported by the visible mycelial matting where the cambium ought to be.


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## Ferguson system (Feb 3, 2016)

I agree with madhatte, it could be a bear. A moose will also leave a tree looking like that.


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## Brushpile (Feb 3, 2016)

Ferguson system said:


> I agree with madhatte, it could be a bear. A moose will also leave a tree looking like that.


In Connecticut?


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## Ferguson system (Feb 3, 2016)

Brushpile said:


> In Connecticut?



Information copied from: http://www.wildlifeofct.com/index.html

"It is unclear if moose were ever native to Connecticut, but they are here now. They are rare, but the DEP has seen evidence over the last several years that a resident Connecticut moose population is being established."

"Black bears are not very common in most of Connecticut, but their population is rising rapidly. Most Connecticut bears at present live in the northwestern corner of the state. Black bears have black to brown fur and may have tan muzzles or a white spot on their chests. These are large and powerful animals with a stocky build and short thick legs. A typical Connecticut male black bear (boar) will weigh 150 to 450 lbs. Females (sows) tend to be smaller and weigh 110 to 250 lbs. They have small 3 to 5 inch tails and have large claws on their paws."

Information copied from: http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&depNav_GID=1655&q=326044


*Connecticut Moose Facts*
The first sighting of a moose cow with calves in Connecticut was reported in 2000 in Hartland. Between 2000 and 2007, at least 40 calves were born in the state (this number only includes reported sightings by the public). In addition, other moose likely were born in Connecticut or dispersed into the state from Massachusetts.


Since 2000, cows with calves have been reported in 10 different towns (Hartland, New Hartford, Granby, Colebrook, Goshen, Barkhamsted, Union, Winchester, Eastford, and Enfield).

Over the past 17 years, moose sightings increased from an average of 4 per year in the mid-1990s to 69 in 2007.

Based on sightings by the public and deer hunters from 2000 to 2004, Connecticut’s moose population in 2004 was estimated at 63. Without any population management, it will increase 15% in 1 year and 91% in 5 years.

Young moose that disperse into new territories during spring have been documented to travel 5-10 miles per day, sometimes traveling as far as 100 miles over a 5-week period, passing through a dozen towns.


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## Brushpile (Feb 3, 2016)

Ferguson system said:


> Information copied from: http://www.wildlifeofct.com/index.html
> 
> "It is unclear if moose were ever native to Connecticut, but they are here now. They are rare, but the DEP has seen evidence over the last several years that a resident Connecticut moose population is being established."
> 
> ...


I never would've imagined. Course, a few years ago I never imagined we'd have armadillos in TN, but, here we are.


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## cat10ken (Feb 3, 2016)

Is the bark piled on the ground under the tree or is it gone?

I'm thinking Pileated woodpecker after grubs if the bark is scattered under the tree.

Look close where the bark isn't missing and you can see holes where he probed for grubs.


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## Sagetown (Feb 3, 2016)

Brushpile said:


> Horses will do that if they're not getting enough minerals.


Our old Mule barn with several oaken built stables had many 2x6" boards that resembled kitchen cabinet trim, where they gnawed on them.


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## Sagetown (Feb 3, 2016)

Brushpile said:


> I never would've imagined. Course, a few years ago I never imagined we'd have armadillos in TN, but, here we are.


Same here in SE Oklahoma. It was a rare sighting in the 60's. By the 90's they were so thick, they'd be out in daylight hours. My 160 acres was inundated with them. Determined to put a stop to them using my Polaris 4x4, a Winchester single shot .410 gauge shotgun. Day One was an education for me. Day two I killed 14 armadillos. Day 3 about half that. After that first week, about 1 or 2 a week until they quit showing up.


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## Brushpile (Feb 3, 2016)

Sagetown said:


> Day One was an education for me



How so? How to hunt them?


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## Torch68 (Feb 3, 2016)

There is shredded wood at the base of the tree but nowhere near the amount that is gone.


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## madhatte (Feb 4, 2016)

Wait 'til the snow is gone. It'll all be nearby. Bears will tear through the bark and scatter it all around.


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## Michaelmj11 (Feb 8, 2016)

Torch68 said:


> There is shredded wood at the base of the tree but nowhere near the amount that is gone.



Bambi and his mother ate tree bark in that movie...




cat10ken said:


> Is the bark piled on the ground under the tree or is it gone?
> 
> I'm thinking Pileated woodpecker after grubs if the bark is scattered under the tree.
> 
> Look close where the bark isn't missing and you can see holes where he probed for grubs.



Wouldn't the woodpeckers have flown south for the winder, or do they stick around?


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## cat10ken (Feb 8, 2016)

I see one nearly every day eating frozen apples from a tree in my back yard here in Wisconsin. No, they don't migrate.


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## SliverPicker (Feb 9, 2016)

Nothing eats bark off of a dead tree. Plenty of creatures eat bark off of live trees. I wonder if what you are seeing is the work of a larger woodpecker.


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## Deleted member 110241 (Feb 9, 2016)

I wonder if those marks are made by beetles and then the dead bark fell off on its own?
Here's a few pics of bear tearing bark off, there was no damage on the wood underneath, not that I remember. The blurry close up picture shows the bears teeth marks in the bark:


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## Westboastfaller (Feb 15, 2016)

SliverPicker said:


> Nothing eats bark off of a dead tree. Plenty of creatures eat bark off of live trees. I wonder if what you are seeing is the work of a larger woodpecker.


 Just a little pecker.
It's not the 'woodpecker' its a woodpecker
A cousin of the woodpecker and part of the excavator family this little guy is known as the sapsucker.
That tree was hammered by Beetles. All the holes in the existing bark appear to be exit holes. The sapsucker hears the Beetles under the barb and strips it. It dosen't take them long. I have worked amongst them for years in the mountain Pine Beetle attacks. They have cost me a lot of money as they peck through the ribbons of the pay trees and the ribons get blown away and snowed on. When the numbers don't match I have to mob back once it's all figured out. After been a host tree the bark starts to separate. It's usually the larvae that move around the tree as they grow and server the cambium layer. I don't know much about oak Beetles & patterns other than the Beetles are large. One looks like what is known to me as the spruce Beetle with long antennas.


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## square1 (Feb 15, 2016)




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## HomesteadRed (Apr 10, 2016)

I could take a picture oof a tree down by the creek on my property that looks exactly the same. It started higher and worked it's way down. At first my best guess was a bear but it did not look like claw marks, so then I though maybe large whitetail bucks, but it seemed almost too high for that. I now believe it is a wood pecker or something like a porcupine. If you figure it out. please update. If I catch the culprit here, I will update with a picture if I can.


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## HomesteadRed (Apr 10, 2016)

cat10ken said:


> Is the bark piled on the ground under the tree or is it gone?
> 
> I'm thinking Pileated woodpecker after grubs if the bark is scattered under the tree.
> 
> Look close where the bark isn't missing and you can see holes where he probed for grubs.



I think you are spot on with the woodpecker. I have a few species around here and some of them are great at tearing large sections of the bark off like this.


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## GLOCKED (Apr 10, 2016)

You could put up a trail camera and find out exactly what it is? I've never seen anything like that.


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## Deleted member 110241 (Apr 24, 2016)

HomesteadRed said:


> I think you are spot on with the woodpecker. I have a few species around here and some of them are great at tearing large sections of the bark off like this.



The three-toed woodpecker makes horizontal marks like that but not that many, and not from a dead tree since it dricks the sap that comes out of the "rings" it makes.

Maybe it is a woodpecker but one that is out of his mind? I'm sure animals can go postal too...


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## Westboastfaller (Apr 24, 2016)

Markus said:


> The three-toed woodpecker makes horizontal marks like that but not that many, and not from a dead tree since it dricks the sap that comes out of the "rings" it makes.
> 
> Maybe it is a woodpecker but one that is out of his mind? I'm sure animals can go postal too...


Even more OCD than the rest...lol


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