how high up the plant is this???

ken

This is up about 8-ft. The total height of the plant is around 17-ft.

so i guess it rules out deer... rabbit...

leaving squirrel???

they are tearing apart trees here in MI for nesting purposes.. any tall trees around....

what do the stub tips look like.... clean cut or torn????

can we rule out humanoid issues??:? .. anyone got a hate on for you or your arbs?????

ken

Giraffe?
Mike

I have many other arborvitae on the property and this is the only one with this damage, so if someone hates them it is just this one :O

Here is a photo of one of the cuts from a piece I found on the ground. I can get one from on the plant itself if that would be better.

The initial damage I saw took place during the day as the mess was not there first thing in the morning.

Hmmm... I haven't seen any giraffes in the neighborhood of late :)

We do get many climbing animals from squirrels to raccoons to opossum. Any have a particular taste for baby birds or eggs?

Here is another photo showing both a stub up on the plant, and one I pulled off and photographed against my bluejeans.

I have a small video camera that can shoot one hour of video. Once it is charged I am going to put it out there and focus on this spot and let it run.

wow, thats crazy, can't wait to find out what did this. I hope its not squirrels. I mean how would you stop them from doing future damage?

Looks like this critter has two large front cutting teeth looking at the gnaw marks.

I would almost bet it's some looney tunes squirrel going after nesting material.

They are capable of the incapable if not wired right.

Dave

I'll hang a recipe for squirrel stew on the trunk and see if that works. There are gazillions of gray squirrels around here (who seem to aim the acorn shells from the oaks right at my head), but probably just one crazy one in my neighborhood. We used to have a lot of feral cats around, but I have seen very few at all this year (also strangely, I have not seen any rabbits, and I always see rabbits).

The nest shouldnt be far away! They will buid it in one or two days.I would look around for some more evidence.
I had to thin out the herd around here after some girdled some nice trees i grew for many years.
Sorry about your arborbitey.

Al

Thanks for all the help! I'll see if I can find a nest nearby.

If it is insects and other little things I am typically good at diagnosis, but not so much when it comes to larger critters.