pin oak

[jflumos]

I live in Carson City, Nevada, considered high desert. I have a fairly
mature pin oak tree - approx. 12 years old. Beautiful tree. However, we
just had to cut off some of the lower branches as it appeared that something,
maybe a woodpecker or a borer, had been having its way with these branches.
The branches, which were mature, were dead and the damage showed just at the
base of the branch. The rest of the tree is fine. Looking at the area where
we cut the branches off, there is no evidence of boring. Could a woodpecker
cause this type of damage?

Thanks.

 

[Deere John]

Me thinks that the lower branches were dead anyway from the tree maturing and growing taller. The lower branches were not receiving the necessary amount of light, so they croaked.

The activity on these branches, I feel, is more secondary to their croaking than primary and a threat to the tree.