Wow, that's some serious damage! Vandals?

where is it???

bear?? a really pissed off bear???

regardless.. its planted like a telephone pole ...

probably time to replace it.. and make sure the next one is properly planted ..

ken

Geez. I doubt there's any saving it. For the replacement, ensure they plant it properly and don't get a tree with so many limbs at one place on the trunk (that looks like old school heading at eye level...).

At first I thought deers, but that stuff at ground level...maybe some other animal like 10-y.o. boys with knives?

Dan

I would rule out deer as to the cause of this. In my experience most deer damage occurs during the rutting season (around November here). Deer damage to tree bark is usually to one side of the tree and the damage looks more like the effect of rubbing. In most cases, a tree can outgrow the damage done to it my a deer. Your trees look completely girdled. I would start over. (PS. Do you have a problem with any of your human neighbors??)

The tree is completely girdled. No point trying to save it.
It is better any case because there are a couple of issues with the tree

Planted too deeply
Does not have a central leader.

The first issue is a recipe for disaster down the road
and even if not the second may because you have narrow crotches on the branches and it may succumb to strong winds.

Start fresh with a new tree having a strong central leader
planted at the correct depth

I'm in Syracuse NY so it probably isn't bears. I know that squirrels can strip trees like this, but I read they usually do it in the winter. I also read something on the internet about porcupines stripping trees, but I've never seen one in our neighborhood.

It's very unlikely that it's humans. The stripping goes pretty high and I can't believe someone would get out a ladder to do this.

It appears to be squirrel damage. Porcupines damage is usually not around the base of trees and is usually more gnawing than stripping. The damage show in the above picture looks entirely typical of severe squirrel damage. As Ken would say...a really pissed off squirrel.

The basal damage IME is confounding for moose and squirrel damage (say Boris). Nonetheless, with the new information provided I can see squirrel, Natasha. Regardless of the culprit, it is time to start reflecting upon what sort of replacement tree is wanted/needed.

Dan

...and consider how to deal with the ticked off squirrels in the future.

...and consider how to deal with the ticked off squirrels in the future.

Upsidasium.

Dan

So if it's squirrels, is there a way to prevent this for the other trees? There are a lot of squirrels in the yard and a I'm afraid they are going to do it to others. And on that though, why would they pick this tree and why don't you see this all the time?

well i like to be quoted ... or supported in my analysis .. but you guys have gone over the deep end ... rotflmbo ...

i didnt think anyone remembered bullwinkle.. lol ..

simple chicken wire ... loosely applied will probably get him to move on to something else ...

maybe he was irritated you planted a maple.. instead of a nut tree ... if you think you will EVER want to garden in the shade of a tree ... ANYTHING BUT A MAPLE would be better.. think OAK ... some experts actually think they grow faster than maple anyway ...

ken

Seriously, I suspect there was a {{gwi:378740}} deficiency of some sort in {{gwi:378742}} diet and he found what he needed in that tree.

But ken is correct that loose chicken wire makes them unhappy as they sway around all over the place. It's not a permanent solution all the time, tho. Aside: we were in the Ozarks recently and doing a hike when we heard this big crashing overhead, looked up, and this young squirrel fell out of the tree, clinging to a (too) small branch, and narrowly missed us by no more than 30 inches...

Dan

I'm coming a little late to this discussion, but I've noticed tremendous squirrel damage to mature Silver Maples in this area during the first several weeks of June. It's tapered off pretty well now, but was much worse than in prior years. This has affected about one out of every four of these trees, and the squirrels sit somewhere in the crown (I've watched them at work) dropping shreds of bark approximately 3/8" x 4" onto the ground. Because these are mature trees 24" dbh and wider, all the damage is in the crown where you can see 2" thick branches completely girdled along lengths of two feet and more. The squirrels haven't gone after any other maples, or any other deciduous trees that I've noticed (though something was cutting/eating/dropping a lot of tender growth on Colorado Blue Spruce around the same time).

The squirrels go for the sweet pulp just under the bark. Check wiki on American Red and Grey squirrels it's mentionned in one of the two. Maples are apparently a favorite because of the high sugar content.