What animal damaged my trees?

[9ah-figlet]

I'm so annoyed right now! An animal has damaged about 6-7 trees. What do you think it is? I see deer, foxes, rabbits, squirrels on a daily basis and have seen raccoons and groundhogs in the past. During prime harvest season, I didn't have any damage like this. This season, most of the figs that were lost were due to insects rather than animals.

I first thought a deer because these trees are on the edge of my fig patch where a buck could rub antlers.


Then I noticed distinct claw (or teeth??) marks

And finally scaffolds ripped off the trunk in the interior of my fig patch. Because the rows of my fig patch are only 5-ft part and deer don't like to enter areas where it is too tight for them to turn around, I'm thinking it may have been something trying to climb the tree or pulling branches down to eat figs. The branches on the ground had figs bitten off, but I can't tell if it happened before or after they were torn off.



Do you think the 1st two trees with the damaged bark will recover? I think it is too late to try to reattach the branches because the leaves have dried out already.

 

[superdave336]

I’d probably say raccoons or possums.

 

[GoodFriendMike]

I am thinking. Maybe a young deer. But not 100% on that. The trees with the missing bark. I should think will survive. The damage is not all away around. But I would treat or coat the wounds to keep bugs out.

 

[Nora]

The first few look like deer antler damage. The others, look like a climber such as raccoon.

 

[snarfing]

this looks very much like buck damage. eitherway a little cage around will help.

 

[DCallahan]

Deer, A buck rubbing, this is territorial behavior, he will be back and rub on the same trees.

 

[ETXfigs]

Buck

 

[ktrain]

Looks a lot like Deer rub marks.

 

[JC Figgy]

Ouch, That looks like deer. Look for the telltale poop droppings. One maybe made it down the row, found some figs and tried to turn around and broke some branches. The bark will heal on them. The branches snapped off are goners but they should still be good for cuttings.

 

[9ah-figlet]

I am thinking. Maybe a young deer. But not 100% on that. The trees with the missing bark. I should think will survive. The damage is not all away around. But I would treat or coat the wounds to keep bugs out.

Thanks Mike. Would you use that “sealer” that comes in tubes or the tape-like wrapping? I’ve never treated anything that big before.

 

[GoodFriendMike]

Thanks Mike. Would you use that “sealer” that comes in tubes or the tape-like wrapping? I’ve never treated anything that big before.

Pruning sealer.

 

[9ah-figlet]

For those who said deer, could I run another length of cable 2-3 ft away from the damage (so the buck can’t reach the trunk anymore) rather than the tree guards? This way I could protect the entire row. The tree guards look like a perfect ladder if I have a raccoon climbing trees too

 

[BucksCountyFigs]

Oh man, I’m so sorry!

I’m fairly confident that is deer damage. I used to live in princeton, where, believe it or not, literal HERDS of deer stroll around everywhere, even in the burbs. And that is what the damage they do to young/small trees looks like.

 

[9ah-figlet]

Oh man, I’m so sorry!

I’m fairly confident that is deer damage. I used to live in princeton, where, believe it or not, literal HERDS of deer stroll around everywhere, even in the burbs. And that is what the damage they do to young/small trees looks like.

Yes, I’m in a suburban development overrun with deer too. There is a young buck with 2-3 does that have 1-2 fawn each that we see on a fairly regular basis. I’ve seen the buck eating my supposedly deer resistant native plants less than 3 feet from my house.

 

[grasshopper]

Uh, sorry to see that. This is the typical mating season for the deer, which rub their antlers to mark their territory.

Try to put up some fencing and deer spray, which is easier than individual tree guards, especially when you have many and they branch out.

I used to live near the woods with a herd of deer. I mark the territory with spray so that they don't come near. I tried ultrasound but it wasn't very useful because of the range and angle. Fence is the last defense and make sure they don't see landing from the other side(You can put a bunch of stuff there so they can't see clear landing). They can jump really high easily.

 

[DCallahan]

I know an Apple orchard that swears by using Milorganite hung in cloth bags or old stockings around the trees.

 

[TorontoJoe]

I had this all figured out and then I went back again.... Look at the tearing... that's no squirrel or opossum. It's something with the weight to pull down hard on those limbs...

While I highly recommend a trail cam so you know what you're dealing with... I would say it's may be a deer.... if you're lucky. But I would fear you have the worst of all furry, mammal fig thieves... Raccoons. I've had raccoon damage that looks very similar to yours. Think a 15kg (33lbs) mammal on a branch... I would recommend you get the cam so you know what enemy you're fighting...

I'm thinking deer might not hang out like that but seems you're on top of it.

This is my go-to for strategy on battling raccoons

The Art of War - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[bushdoctor82]

The trees should be fine going forward. There’s not an easy way to deter deer or other animals returning and wreaking more havoc. I’ve read on other sites that the really cheap bird netting wrapped haphazardly and loosely around the trunk can deter some animals as they don’t want to get “stuck” in the netting.

I’m not a proponent of using pruning sealer, but maybe an old fashioned white wash can help until the tree seals off the wounds.

 

[Opiem10]

For those who said deer, could I run another length of cable 2-3 ft away from the damage (so the buck can’t reach the trunk anymore) rather than the tree guards? This way I could protect the entire row. The tree guards look like a perfect ladder if I have a raccoon climbing trees too

I had deer bust through my 7 foot high, plastic deer fencing and do similar damage. Small critters have cut holes in the netting before, but would never break the fence from top to bottom. My rogue deer also broke several branches, like those in your pictures.

 

[grasshopper]

I had deer bust through my 7 foot high, plastic deer fencing and do similar damage. Small critters have cut holes in the netting before, but would never break the fence from top to bottom. My rogue deer also broke several branches, like those in your pictures.

I have seen a deer jump over 7 ft easily right in front of me (no warmup or run up). My fence at the time was 7ft. But they won't jump inside because I have stuff (often pointy) covering any potential landing. They can jump high and they can jump wide but not at the same time. And they do watch where they land before jumping.