I'm not the biggest Master Gardener fan. Call an ISA certified arborist. Just know if the tree is near the house, your cooling bill will go way up. Plant something to replace it ASAP. Dan

Well, as it turns out, I don't know my trees! I had bought small trees this spring and have them sitting around in pots. Apparently they had gotten moved around and where I did have a hackberry sitting originally, a birch had gotten moved in its place at some point and I didn't know it. I thought those cats were on the same hackberry tree that I had had Question Marks on a couple months ago, BUT since it's a birch tree, that certainly changes things. Sorry for the misidentification of the tree. I didn't have access to a camera to take a pic of them but after reading the comment about sawfly larvae lifting their tail ends up in the air, I went out and sure enough, they did it! Then I was perplexed because of rhizo not being able to think of a sawfly larva that uses hackberry as a host plant. That's what got me to look to see what that tree actually is, and that's why I discovered my mistake. So anyway, it turns out that they were birch sawfly larvae, and I got rid of them. I just wanted to say thanks to you all for helping me with this, and sorry again that I didn't know my own tree. I have so many sitting out there to plant yet this fall because I didn't get around to planting them in the spring, and I'm not familiar with all types of tree leaves. I think I know a hackberry from a birch now though. Ha. Cathy

Its just coming out of dormancy. This is a trees most vulnerable time to diseases. For most trees, the dormant season, late fall or winter, is the best time to prune although dead branches can and should be removed at any time. Pruning during the dormant period minimizes sap loss and subsequent stress to the tree. It also minimizes the risk of fungus infection or insect infestation as both fungi and insects are likely to be in dormancy at the same time as the tree. Finally, in the case of deciduous trees, pruning when the leaves are off will give you a better idea of how your pruning will affect the shape of the tree. Some fruiting and flowering trees should be pruned at other times of the year, depending on whether they flower on the previous year's growth or not. After pruning, it is always a good idea to give the tree a good fertilizing so that the tree can naturally close the pruning wounds and to reduce the stress placed on the tree. You should also never take off more than 1/3 of a tree in a year as doing so overstresses the plant. I would recommend that you pay a surveyor to come out and mark your property line... If you do not want to goo through that expense then go directly to your city or county property records department. Ask to see the plat map corresponding to your address. Request a copy, which usually costs only a few dollars or less... another option is that you could buy or rent a metal detector and run it around where you suspect the corners of your property are. With any luck you may find one or more of the original survey posts, the tops of which should be at ground level or just below this.... Who knows you may find out that the trees are totally on your property in which case you can cut them down completely and she can fly a kite. Be aware that she may have squatters rights though before you do something like ripping out fences or structures. I dont know your particulars but if its not a tree you care about I would not bother with the company and just take a chainsaw to it yourself. You can rent one really cheaply at most major hardware stores and they can be alot of fun. It is especially nice to do this if you have a fireplace since hackberry makes decent firewood.

Here in central Texas we have the same problem. Such a shame as our pastures are full of hackberry trees. Another import that we have no natural controls of. We have some old hackberries that are so large that it would take two people to reach around them. I suppose we will end up loosing them. Can't park any equiptment or cars anywhere near them. They also had the larve of the "hackberry butterfly" on them most of the summer. If the honeydew didn't get you the droppings of the larve did. Patsy