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Can anyone tell me what is eating my tree?

Started by 21incher, March 06, 2014, 04:40:22 PM

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21incher

I went out in my back yard to place some taps and noticed a big hole that has recently been chewed in a ash tree.

 
If you look about 23 feet up on the Left hand y of this tree there is hole that has recently appeared.


 
It is about 8 inches tall and 2 1/2 inches wide with a small hole below.


 
This picture is as far as I can zoom in which shows it is pretty cleanly chewed quite deep and I did not see any sawdust in the snow below. I have never seen a hole this big before and was wondering if anyone may have a idea of what chewed it.
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brendonv

Wood peckers are after whats inside.  Looks like the valleys from carpenter ants in the heartwood.
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goose63

goose
if you find your self in a deep hole stop digging
saw logs all day what do you get lots of lumber and a day older
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elk42

 Grits has got to be better than those small fish {MINNOWS} with boiled potatoes
and beets.  :D :D :D :D

Sorry guys wrong place
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sprucebunny

Most likely Piliated (sp.?) Woodpecker. They are known for large, rectangular holes.
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thecfarm

A pileated wood pecker maybe.


 

And than the mess on the ground.
That is a good wild life tree if no threat to a building.
I saw another tree that the wood pecker has been after too just below my land.



 
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

21incher

We did not hear anything so I didn't think it was a woodpecker and there is no wood in the snow under the hole. I will have to keep a eye out to see if it comes back. I hope it got all the carpenter ants or that tree may look like yours thecfarm in the future. Looks like the hole would make a good home for a squirrel.
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

thecfarm

Maybe the wind was blowing when the wood pecker was a pecking.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

thecfarm

I was coming home and caught him in the act. I had to come home and get the camera. He moved on the back side of the tree. First time I ever really saw one stay on a tree.



 
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

21incher

Quote from: thecfarm on March 08, 2014, 08:09:40 PM
I was coming home and caught him in the act. I had to come home and get the camera. He moved on the back side of the tree. First time I ever really saw one stay on a tree.



 
Great picture. I will have to keep my eye out for one.
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

JohnG28

My buddy had a tree right in his front yard that looked identical,  just a much larger hole. The woodpecker looked like Woody on some serious steroids!  :D  :D
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davidlarson

You're right about pileated woodpecker.  In our forests in western NC they make holes just like that, in old dead trees, and I think sometimes in live trees, if the trees are in some way weakened or sick.
David L.

Ron Scott

~Ron

Jeff

As a note, the woodpeckers are after what is already living within the tree. They are exposing the damage that is already within the tree. Sort of opening the cupboard door there for you to see as they chow on what they find. They are not eating the wood, just removing it to get at where it is already missing.
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21incher

Sounds like he must be in a big pine tree across the street now. While out boiling sap yesterday that is all I heard. Hopefully I will be able to get a pic of him. The squirrels seem to like the hole he made in my tree. They are checking it out all the time.
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

2StateTrigger

Them poor little woodpeckers.  I often hear them hammering away at the trees like a jackhammer.  Can you imagine the headaches they get?
Molon Labe

woodmills1

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gfadvm

Piliated woodpeckers are a rare sighting around here but I always try to leave a big dead snag around to try to attract them. We'll see a pair about twice a year.

WV Sawmiller

  We have lots of pileated woodpeckers in our area and on my property. Some folks call them wood hens. I love to hear them calling (sometimes in the Spring they will shock a turkey into gobbling) and watching them. I'd leave the tree as long as safe just for the bird viewing it will provide.
Howard Green
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Carson-saws

Built themselves a regular condo.  Club MED like.
Let the Forest be salvation long before it needs to be

sandsawmill14

we have a few of them around here some call them indian hens on a side note if you ever see one go in a hole where the nest is DONT EVER climb the tree and put your hand over the hole to try and catch mom and the babies :o i know a guy that did that when he was bout 12-13 yrs old and hands are no where near hard as wood and i thought the bird was gonna come out through my and any second :o and i was to scared to let the pecker out afraid it would get on my head so i ended up just jumping out of the tree ;D after 2 -3 days my hand was ok and learned a valuable lesson :D :D :D  when i think about all the crazy things i did as a kid i often wonder how i ever got this old ???  :D :D
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sandsawmill14

i forgot to mention this was one of the small red headed woodpeckers not the larger ones like were mentioned in this post :)
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grouch

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on December 20, 2015, 10:12:46 AM
  We have lots of pileated woodpeckers in our area and on my property. Some folks call them wood hens. I love to hear them calling (sometimes in the Spring they will shock a turkey into gobbling) and watching them. I'd leave the tree as long as safe just for the bird viewing it will provide.

That's what people call them around here, too. It confused me when I first moved here in '78 when the locals talked about "wood hens".

It's easy to tell when one of them is working. Sounds like the log drums from an old Tarzan movie. The little redheaded woodpeckers (don't know their real name) sound more like a clatter; nothing like the big pileated drummers.
Find something to do that interests you.

ppine

It is impressive that several people could figure out the species by the nature of the hole he left.  People that live and work in the bush get tuned in to what is out there.  It all becomes so familiar. That is the difference between tourists and foresters.
Forester

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