Posted by Nellie Scheffler on April 2, 2006

Q: We have lived in our house for over 15 years and have never seen this before....we have several basswood trees in our yard and this spring, we are seeing lots of branches on the ground around the base of the trees as well as several branches on the trees themselves that are completely stripped of bark. Is this the result of squirrel nest building or something else? If it is squirrel based, which ones are most likely-gray, red or flying? Also, is there a reason that they are choosing the basswood trees for this activity?

Thanks.

A: I'm not entirely clear when you found these branches, but from what you've shared, it sounds as though although you discovered this in the spring, the actual problem occurred in the past? Correct? It sounds as though you've had bucks (male deer) using your trees to rub their antlers, not squirrels. Bucks will do this in the fall to remove the velvet from their antlers and to announce their presence to other males in the area. One or more bucks will select a tree or group of trees and return to this area on successive nights to rub their antlers. Their activites can be quite damaging to a tree and if they completely rub all of the bark off, can even kill a tree. Who knows why they choose tree "A" over tree "B" - you just hope it's not one of your special trees. Not much you can do to prevent this unless you place some kind of barrier around your trees. Thanks for your question and I trust this solves your "mystery".

John Wiessinger ( April 2, 2006)