Extension > Garden > Diagnose a problem > What's wrong with my plant? > Deciduous Trees > Ash > Bark chewed or removed
Ash > Trunk > Bark chewed or removed
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Rabbit feeding
- Bark is completely removed from the main trunk
- Regular scraping the size of a spoon tip can be seen in the wood
- Small twigs are cleanly cut off with a sharp edge, at a 45 degree angle
- Damage can occur from ground level to several feet up the trunk
- Deep snow can allow rabbits to reach higher up the trunk
- Damage occurs in winter
- More information on protecting trees and shrubs from animals
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Deer feeding / Antler rubbing
- Long lines of shredded or peeled off bark along main trunk up to 3 feet off the ground from antler rubbing. Wood may appear shiny or "polished"
- Leaves and small branches (>1 inch in diameter) cut off with a rough or ragged edge (Not a clean cut!)
- Feeding occurs from the ground up to 6 feet or slightly higher. Ragged edges, same as above, also if the bark is removed by a deer there will be no sign of teeth marks
- More information on protecting trees and shrubs from animals
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Woodpeckers
- Holes are roundish and range in size from 1/4 to 1/2 inch
- Larger holes, 1 1/2 or more inches may be nesting holes and suggest softer heartwood inside the tree
- Bark often removed around holes
- Woodpecker probing may indicate presence of wood boring insects under bark
- Repetitive tapping or drumming heard
- Birds of varying black and white patterns, often with some red, seen tapping on trees
- More information on Woodpeckers
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Vole feeding
- Bark is completely removed from the main trunk in irregular patches
- Scraping the size of a fork tine can be seen in exposed wood
- Damage occurs during winter from the ground level up to winter snow depth
- More information on protecting trees and shrubs from animals
