Cone on a post

[kev45]

Can anyone tell me what has done this. The cone was wedged in to the top of a deer fence post, the top of the post was dug out by something, i could make out teeth marks, and then the cone was jammed in, i asume to get the seeds out of the cone.

thanks kevin.



ps i hope this works i haven`t posted anything before.

[bobbarber]

Yes Kev 45 it worked fine and welcome to W.A.B.

Are you sure they are teeth marks on the fence post. It doesn`t look like the way an animal would gnaw it but more like a human would with an axe or large knife. Could it be a set up for a `photo shoot by someone or maybe a person that likes to feed the local wildlife...Bob

[davecatt]

I reckon Bobs right, somebody baiting for squirrel (or possibly Pine marten?)

[kev45]

Thank you for your replys guys, ye i thought that to but it deffently was like small teeth marks. There was about 10 cones on the ground at the bottom of the post, and there was another post further along the fence line that was the same but not dug so deep.

[STYRBJORN]

I seriously question whether any wild animal in the UK would have the foresight and time-fixing ability to dig out the top of the fence post for the purpose of affixing a cone. It would require intelligence and dexterity at primate level.

However, walking through the woods on campus recently, I passed a length of road where 1m high posts had been set into the verge at intervals to keep vehicles off. They were untreated wood, with no capping. Some were still level and intact at the top, while others had rotted and been attacked by, presumably, fungi and beetles to produce conical depressions several cm deep. The difference between hollowed and intact posts may have been nothing more than the slant of the top. A horizontal surface might retain water while a slanted surface would allow run-off. An animal might then make opportunistic use of the hollow. As for what animal, I can only think of a red squirrel as having the strength, dexterity, and motive. Grey squirrels AFAIK don't eat pine nuts.

I go with those who favour it being the action of a primate. One of our lot. The "tooth marks" could well have been made with a small penknife while enlarging the hole, and now be disguised by rot.

Sorry to be a spoilsport!

Ric

[kev45]

Thanks for your comments Styrbjorn, i think i will have to go back and have a much closer look, the more i think about it the more i think it might have been man made.

[The Woodman]

It looks to me like a Sitka Spruce cone thats been hammered away at by a bird to get the seed. Could be one of many birds from Crow (my first choice as they will use a bit of intellegence) to Woodpecker.



This image shows Scots Pine cones eaten by Red Squirrel and Crossbill for comparison.

I would be tempted to remove the cone from the fence post and see it replaced by another.

There is the potential of it being a completely chance "jamming".

[The Woodman]

The comments about post top cavities are interesting. Nearly all softwood posts are pressure treated with preservative to prevent fungal and insect rot. Roundwood posts are made from very young trees or thinnings with little or no heartwood. The treatment process forces preservative into the post but not all the way through.

If you have ever had to cut a post you'll see the extent of the treatment although some of the modern treatments are colourless. Our local preserver uses the colourless Alkaline Copper Quarternary process having progressed from the green tinted Chromated Copper Arsenate process.

In my experience the posts that rot in the centre of the top are those that have their tops trimmed off by the fencing contractor as they haven't been able to drive them in as far as they need to be for whatever reason - it's usually underlying rock - and the tops have been trimmed off with the chainsaw leaving an untreated centre of exposed timber that rots quicker than the exterior treated surfaces..

[nigel_b]

i.e. the post has rotten at the top. No one has mentioned a woodpecker yet. Maybe there are no suitable trees for the woodpecker to jan the cone into?

[STYRBJORN]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

The comments about post top cavities are interesting. Nearly all softwood posts are pressure treated with preservative to prevent fungal and insect rot. Roundwood posts are made from very young trees or thinnings with little or no heartwood. The treatment process forces preservative into the post but not all the way through.

If you have ever had to cut a post you'll see the extent of the treatment although some of the modern treatments are colourless. Our local preserver uses the colourless Alkaline Copper Quarternary process having progressed from the green tinted Chromated Copper Arsenate process.

In my experience the posts that rot in the centre of the top are those that have their tops trimmed off by the fencing contractor as they haven't been able to drive them in as far as they need to be for whatever reason - it's usually underlying rock - and the tops have been trimmed off with the chainsaw leaving an untreated centre of exposed timber that rots quicker than the exterior treated surfaces..

Sussex Uni is proud of its green credentials. I think the posts may have been deliberately untreated on the upper part so as to encourage decay and make them as unobtrusive as possible.