This is the Peach tree I planted in the front yard last summer. It did great all summer, putting out lots of new growth and adding almost 18 inches to its height.
Then I noticed this a few months ago:
It is a deer rub from last fall, bucks rubbing all the fuzz off of their antlers prior to rut. It looks pretty bad as the bark is removed all the way around the tree. In this condition, the tree is vulnerable to disease and insects. I don’t think it will survive if I leave it this way. The only thing I can think to do is cut it all the way back and hope that there is enough food stored in the root ball to make a full recovery. If I do that, it will regrow, however, we will be about 2-3 years behind when it comes to fruit production.
According to the rings, it is four years old. This time I am going to put a fence around it until it gets big enough to stand up for itself. Time was when deer were not as plentiful, shy and did not come around too much. Stupid Deer better watch out, rumor has it that some Grey Wolves have moved into the forest on the ridge behind us. I haven’t heard them yet, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
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Deer and squirrels are my least favorite woodland creatures. Hopefully your peach tree is a fighter.
Don’t know if you are a hunting man, but you could use it as a trap for meat….I didn’t get any venison this past hunting season, couldn’t find anyone that went out and got some (sorry Jay you grass eating fool, bambi is tasty).
rumor has it that there are grey wolves on the ridge? where did this rumor come from? Where did the wolves come from?
I overheard a park ranger at the local convenience store talking about them. Apparently they have been heard/seen near Lake Awosting and south.
I would guess they moved down from the Adirondacks?
There are no confirmed wolves in the north eastern U.S. although sometimes they do find their way around here. I wouldnt be surprised if there are some around, there is certainly plenty of food around. I would be very excited for a breeding population to establish themselves. There is a lot of talk about reintroducing them to northern maine or the adirondacks, but these movements get shot down pretty quick. Here is an article about a wolf being spotted and killed in mass recently.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/03/05/after_160_years_a_wild_gray_wolf_turns_up_in_mass/
Will, You may be right, there are no confirmed wolf populations in the eastern US. That being said, there have been numerous unsubstantiated sightings in NH, VT and Northern NY. There is also some evidence of a wolf/coyote hybrids from this SUNY article:
The Coyote in New York State
interesting that the coyote population is helping the raven population come back.
I can understand Deer rub in the fall. But in May??? Actually overnight deer ate the bark off of 8 fruit trees just behind a house in Virginia. They ate all the way around the young peach and plum trees. I don’t know if they’ll survive. I wrapped them, caged them and sprayed with deer out. They haven’t shown signs of stress yet.
(ed: took care of it for ya :) )