Bear scratches ??

[lew]

I found this dead tree in the woods just a couple hundred yards from the house and assume it's scratches from a black bear. I've seen bear scratches before but never this deep or even this high in a tree. Their about 4 inches deep near the ground and go up about 30 feet high.

 

 

Some wood chips at the base of the tree and while not visible there's a big area where the leaves have been crushed down by the bear walking around.

 

 

Some deep marks

 

 

Smore

 

 

All the way to the top, about 30' high

 

 

Just thought some may be interested.

[cityfisher]

hmmmm ive seen bears tear up birch tree up at our camp in haliburton but never damage like that before.

[John]

BIG Woodpecker if you ask me Lew!

 

Dang those are some big scratch marks.

[Terry]

I would say there were bugs living in the dead tree and the bear wanted them as a meal and had to peel away the wood to get at them

[Roy]

Definitely bear, Lew. I've also seen a lot of tree damage by porcupines as well.

[irishfield]

That was just Brianb falling out of his tree stand Lew !!

[anders]

first thought was porqupines as well...but definitly neat!

[TJQ]

If I was a betting man... id say porky...

[Harrison]

I've seen the marks they leave in Beech trees, not sure a bear would do what you see there Lew.

I'am going to guess a Bigfoot (aka Samsqanche) scratching post.

Edited November 9, 2010 by Harrison

[lew]

hmmmm, porcupines eh ??

 

Never thought about them, but there's plenty of them around here, but would a porky do that much damage to a tree, even if it's dead ?? If you look close at picture #4 those scratches are 4-5 inches deep.

 

I know there's bears in the area as I've found several piles of scat within 200' of the house over the summer.

[Spiel]

Not sure Lew but penicillin could probably cure it.

[Joey]

Well I never would have thought porcupine either Lew, but I just Googled "porcupine damage to trees" and hit images and some of them are very similar. Huh!

 

Joey

[aplumma]

If I was a betting man... id say porky...

 

 

what do you mean IF you were a betting man? Why I bet you plenty of times that you couldn't finish that bottle before you went to bed at Lak Air. Yes you did win though so you are still the man.

 

 

Art

[Fisherman]

It's a big woodpecker that makes those, we have them out in our forested areas, they can lay a real beating on a tree in short order. Holes big enough to put your fist in and then some. First time I saw one last year, I thought it was a raven with a bad hair do. Pileated woodpecker. Here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pileated_Woodpecker

[doubleheader]

My first thought is the tree was hit by lightning, and it may have been at one time causing the insect investation and porky attack.

[Abraxus]

I have seen this before and though you will not believe it, this work was done by a Pileated Woodpecker. I have witnessed the exact same distruction on a couple of trees in brothers back yard.

 

Trust me! The handy work is identical.

 

Here is a link to show you what one looks like!

 

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/pileated-woodpecker.html

 

They are the largest of the Woodpecker family standing between 16 and 19 inches tall. If you ever see one work, you would rub your eyes and scratch your head in disbelief. They can and do tear our large shreds of wood from the tree. Just like the ones you see on the ground in your picture.

 

If you havent seen one in your back yard, consider yourself lucky!

 

Ab

[dave524]

I'll put my money on a pileated woodpecker as well.

[irishfield]

As will I ! We have a yard full of them.. the tell tale without looking at the tree itself is those big chips on the ground Lew. You'd swear the buggers use a hatchet vs a beak !

[lew]

We do have a few pileated woodpeckers around here that I see quite frequentely, infact I had 3 of them sitting in a tree on the front lawn awhile back, but I honestly wouldn't think they'd be able to do that much damage to a 30' tree.

 

I must admit though, I'd rather have either porkies or woodpeckers living next door to me than bears

[OhioFisherman]

A woodpecker? Heck I was guessing at a drunk lumberjack. I have a King Crimson maple tree in my yard I bought almost 20 years ago. I got up one morning about 10 years and the bark on it was torn to heck, I thought my kids did it, until I saw the deer tracks.