Thanks, M, for the notice. The tree is not healthy; I think it is dead; the twig definition is gone. I traced the ends to stubbiness and the green is from a neighbor. Have you seen the tree? Do you know what kind? It looks like something in the sycamore or plane tree family (planatus) sp?
I studied the margins of the openings looking for wound response to try to gauge how long ago the event occurred. I could not see a callous margin, which would indicate relative vigor and reaction. These clues point to an event, rather than a chronic condition. Trees do not decay without wounds. I have two inclinations at this point. One is seeing pygmies climb after honey. They used an axe to chop toe holds to climb. Could native types have climbed the tree to capture a hive? They will cluster on branches at times. The trunk may not be thick enough for a arboreal hollow hive. The spacing shown is not really consistent with that, but not too far off; and I have no sense of scale. The second idea is community nesting; like swallows, or martins. It may be a den tree of sorts. Woodpeckers are a prime suspect. They have been known to do some very irrational things. Just one wood pecker with brain damage could do this in a weekend... Do you have any species of community nesting woodpeckers? How about tree climbing rodents?
I don't think it is pathogenic. I think it is mechanical. It happened once, over a short period of time. maybe fire related? But I don't see anything on the neighboring trees. They are a different type of tree. Quite a good mystery.
