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Deer rubbing antlers...will my Maple heal/survive?

3 years ago

I planted a healthy maple tree last fall and just few weeks backs I noticed that the trunk has been scratched heavily on one side. Looks like deer rubbing its antlers. The tree seems to be fine as of now as it has produced leaves and looks good.

Will the scraped trunk cause any harm in future or will it heal by itself ?

I have now put a small fencing around it.

Featured Answer

Smivies (Ontario - 5b)

3 years ago

That’s at least several months old and the tree is already healing. Looks like it might have been sun scald this past winter or compression damage to the bark sometime last year.

Definitely not a deer.

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Comments (7)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
3 years ago
what smivs meant to ask ... lol ... is the the SW side of the trunk??

ken
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"They take the same route each night, why is not understood by me. Thanks for your answers, poaky1" Okay, I live IN the deer crossing. This has gotta be premium deer territory and bucks always seem to be staking a claim. I do the soap, cat poop, pee, wrapping, spraying, you name it. Many of my trees show some sign of deer contact. Just today, I found buck rub on a Gingkoo biloba and a large branch was assaulted on one of the Magnolia grandifloras. There's a larger Northern magnolia in the back that looks like it's been assaulted regularly over the decades. Here's the story, as long as the damage is largely vertical and less than 50% of the circumference of the tree, it should eventually callus over over a few years (doesn't happen overnight or even in a single season). Another magnolia that had about 50% of the circumference removed about three years ago is still callusing--maybe in another growing season it'll close over. Just don't apply any type of sealant to cover over the wound.--THESE ACTUALLY DELAY AND HINDER THE NATURAL ABILITY OF THE TREE TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE. What can I say, the deer were here on the first day I decided to buy my house. They do help to determine the plants that I grow (because aside from the rubs they love to eat a lot of popular garden plants--roses, hosta, hydrangeas...) Still, I have one of the lushest gardens around (despite the DEER)!
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I see green in some of the bark fragments, which means there is cambium damage. Does not mean it is fatal to the tree, but it certainly not good for it. Tree looks to be freeman maple (i.e. Autumn Blaze Maple) from the looks of the bark. If so, these are very vigorous, and it will have an excellent chance to recover fully. One thing you might do is try to deter the deer. One thing I have read about is to spread blood meal around an area for a few weeks. It is known that prey animals tend to avoid areas with the smell of blood, which indicates a predator in the area. Since deer are prey animals, theoretically they would avoid an area where blood meal is scattered repeatedly during their "rubbing" season. BTW, I tried this with rabbits and it seemed to help, but I only spread blood meal occasionally for a few weeks. Any longer, or continuously, and they are likely to ignore the scent after a period of time. Arktrees
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sam_md
3 years ago
Buck rubs occur during ther rut which around here is Oct/Nov. Check out THIS previous thread on tree protection.
gardengirl6a
Original Author
3 years ago
I am new to growing trees and have never heard of sun scalding. Since we have lots of deer around, I just assumed that it was them!!
Smivies and Ken- I checked and the damage is actually NW side of trunk. This tree is on the West side and gets lots and lots of heat all afternoon and evening.
Since you both are so sure it’s not deer, I will go ahead and wrap the trunk too.
Sam- thank you for the link on tree protection, I will read it up.

Till now, I have added fertilizer spikes, put a small fence around the trunk and will wrap it as well before fall.
Please let me know if I need to take care of anything else for this tree to grow healthy. I really appreciate it... Thank you!!
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
3 years ago
Could be frost cracks. The tree is sealing them off so you can let them be.

tj
wayne
3 years ago
I've had a cat scratch on my Sugar maple and the result was similar but not as bad as you have, I believe it was as young buck that caused the damage but it is not important at this stage. My yard is full of fenced in plants because of the deer.
User
3 years ago
I agree with frost cracks. Just because you can see the outer bark is present over the entire wound. Which happens during cold weather when sun warms the cambium layer then re-freezes suddenly, essentially killing the live tissue in that area.

Deer rubs typically scrape through the outer bark with bony horns, exposing and damaging the cambium and sapwood underneath, cutting off circulation between the roots and the top. This does not appear, in this case, to be the problem

And the tree will heal itself as long is there is less than 50% of the circumference damaged. That doesn't mean rot may or may not start up in the heart wood. It's always a possibility. The more damage done the longer the recovery time.

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