Critter pruning my Red Oak

Chuck White · August 27, 2020, 10:19:08 AM

Seems like most mornings lately I have quite a few small branches on the ground around a 10" DBH Red Oak in my yard!

I've gone out and checked, and the branches are only about ¼" dia, and had some acorns on them, but most of the acorns have been eaten!

Seems to happen through the night or very early in the morning!

I laid the blame on squirrels, but I haven't seen any, just wondering if Racoons do such things?

Maybe I need to shine the tree late at night sometime!

Is this a weird or common occurrence?

thecfarm · August 27, 2020, 10:24:34 AM

Nope not odd at all for a porky pine. ;) Put a piece of tin around the tree to stop them from climbing up the tree. They cut the acorns off and than climb down the tree and eat them.

Chuck White · August 27, 2020, 01:43:16 PM

Hadn't thought about Porcupines!

They're usually SSS to!

Magicman · August 27, 2020, 09:45:05 PM

Squirrels. Look for an accumulation of branches/leaves stuffed in a crotch above the fallen branches.

KEC · August 27, 2020, 10:12:41 PM

Here in Onondaga County, New York I saw this with gray squirrels often. I think they clip branches for nest material and often they accidently drop to the ground, then they clip another one. It's a little late, but grays have a litter in early spring and another late summer. Females build a new nest off by herself to have the litter.

WDH · August 28, 2020, 06:38:38 AM

Probably twig miners. Are the twigs cut clean with a slightly rounded end?

Chuck White · August 28, 2020, 07:53:57 AM

Exactly as WDH suggests, twigs are cut clean with a slightly rounded end!

It's clear though that the small branches are cut, then the culprit comes down and eats the acorns!

There's lots of shells and bits of acorn right where the branches lay!

I'm going to put the gamecam out there today!

Magicman · August 28, 2020, 11:05:52 AM

I am familiar with twig miners and that is not what I have.

Twigs sheared off. (Fuzzy and out of focus pictures but you can still see the diagonal cut.)

And directly above are two freshly built squirrel nest.

WV Sawmiller · August 28, 2020, 04:31:48 PM

One thing about leaf nests that always amazed me was the way the leaves cured to a leathery texture inside. If the same leaf fell on the ground it would normally dry up and get brittle but the ones inside the nest stayed soft and pliable. Down in Dixie County Fla where why grandparents lived the nests there seemed to be lined with Spanish Moss. I guess squirrels are immune to Redbugs. :D

Ron Scott · August 28, 2020, 05:14:18 PM

Usually a squirrel activity, but raccoons and porcupines may do it also. See what the game camera catches.

WDH · August 28, 2020, 09:39:27 PM

I suspect that in Chuck's case, the leaf miners are dropping the twigs and the squirrels are taking advantage of easy pickings. Lynn's situation seems to be more of a direct, cold calculated, deliberate squirrel raid to make it easy to get the acorns.

Magicman · August 28, 2020, 10:06:48 PM

No, they are building nests. They always drop a few limbs but sometime the whole thing falls out and they have to start all over again. There are a half dozen or so nest that have been built within the past few weeks both in the Red Oak in the back yard and White Oak above the drive.

They take whatever acorns that they want directly from the limb but they have not begun to eat acorns yet. Now it is Pine cones and Beech nuts here at my place.

Chuck White · August 29, 2020, 08:04:05 AM

Still no additional activity out there, so I'll leave the game cam a couple more days!

This situation isn't leaf mining, the leaves are still on the branches, the only thing missing are the acorns!

Chuck White · August 30, 2020, 03:14:35 PM

Checked the game cam today and the only critters out there were a doe & fawn!

They did a pretty good job of cleaning up the left over acorns!

They were out there for about 45 minutes!

KEC · September 04, 2020, 11:29:44 PM

Several years ago, my son and his buddy and I went deer hunting on Ft. Drum in Northern, N.Y. I came upon a hemlock tree with many small twigs with green foliage on the ground under the tree. I looked up to see a porky sleeping on a limb (it was 17 degrees F). He chose a cold place to nap. It occurred to me that in areas like the Adirondacks with mature forests that the porkies are probably helping the deer by cutting browse for them.