Bark dammage. What did it ??

[RED]

Hi all.
Wandering around my local reserve to a bit i'd never been to before and came across this. It was pretty close to where someone at some time or another had dumped loads of rubbish (Fire hoses, carpet, Industrial vent tubes etc)
Just wondered if a rabbit would do this ? Reminds me of bears marking their territory but somehow I don't think a bear is the culprit...lol

Thanks.


RED.

[Jason Green]

Hi RED,

I'm 99.89% sure a rabbit couldn't do such damage.

Other considerations is a trend where irresponsible dog owners training their dogs, maybe in preperation for illegal dog fights, to gnaw at trees to strengthen their bite. I know of young trees where they have needed protective sleeves inserted around the trunk as the damage to surrounding trees was enough to nearly kill them !!

I would really assume deer or squirrels are responsible.

What dimensions is the damage?

[Garden Carpet]

I wondered if it was deer. It looks to be about three feet of the ground is that right? I dont think rabbits graze that high.

Of course... they may be standing on each others shoulders ... in that case I am completely wrong. I might be wrong anyway

jaki

[welsh.lensman]

Just a thought RED but do they have deer in the grounds, because this looks like the work of a stag.

[RED]

I can't remember exactly how high the stripping went, but I do know I'd have had to duck right down to get any closer...so the top of the main stripped tree may have been 3ft high but the rest lower.

As far as i'm aware there isn't any deer there, havannah nature reserve
I think the trees in question are between the furthest left, and the middle, red marker. Where there's a wooded area jutting out into the fields.

[ron1863]

Looks like the work of a deer stag rubbing the velvet off it's antlers.

[The Woodman]

This is damage caused by either deer or ponies grazing on the lower trunks of the trees. The double teeth marks can clearly be seen on the stripped trunks. It looks like red deer damage but without scale, it is difficult to say.
I'll dig out an image of red deer stripping to compare.

[RED]

I'm going back up there tomorrow (Weather permitting) and if I can convince my little bro to do a little extra walking (We're going to the large pond to see if there's any frogs/toads breeding yet) then i'll try & get some better pics and take my tapemeasure along too...if i remember LOL

[The Woodman]

Hi RED
When you go back, have a look for other field signs. I've attached four images that might help.


These are fresh red deer teeth marks on a horizontal wind blown sapling, similar to that shown in your image.


A feeding sign. A clump of Hard Rush (Juncus sp.) in the middle of track that has had the tips grazed off by Red Deer.


Red Deer droppings. These are about a week old. The shine has disappeared and white spots of fungal growth are just appearing if you look closely.


Bark stripping. The teeth marks are not clear on this image as the damage was done at the end of 2008 and the colouration is not so distinct. Again, if you look closely, you can see older damage from 2007.

[camo]

Hi Red

this is definetly deer damage, however may be any of Deer. In my area there are are numerous trees with such damage, bas Woodman says best way of determing which is to check out footprints, droppings or look at the highest point of damage. Muntjac do lots of damage but generally to a lower height than Red. It is often strange how they will pick on a certain tree and I wonder wether it is because as they damage a tree the tree then leaks sap which in turn attracts more damage. Whilst Deer in a rut will do some damage the teeth marks are obvious in your picture.

Roy