It's rodents - either mouse or rat or voles. My 8' tall 4 year old fig tree was wrapped with frost proof felt-like material and then covered in a tarp held in place with bungee cords. The base was packed in leaves and the leaves were surrounded with netting. The tarp went down to the netting. I have been successful with this method in the past. When I uncovered the tree this year I noticed holes in the fabric and lots of mouse droppings. I thought I'd find a nest, but there was no nest. The tree is almost completely white from stripped bark. We'll see if it recovers. It's NOT DEER in my case since my tree is in a fenced garden area (7' high) and the fabric and tarp and netting were all still in place. Live and learn - NONE of the sites providing guidance on winterizing fig trees even mention the potential of rodent damage. It's a hard lesson to learn.

Those look like eggs to me, and I'd squish them! That is terrible advice wihout knowing what they are. Although Katydid eat leaves don't they also eat insects like aphids?

Joan, Have you thought of publishing a book of your photos with the captions you write? I'm sure it would be of great interest to many people. You have a true gift for photography, and humor!

If they don't scrape off easily, they are just lenticles, which are just pores along the stems and which Limelight of any of the paniculatas has the most distinctive and visible collection. If they do scrape off easily, they could be scale but they look much too regularly or evenly placed for scale.