Who or what done it ?

I’ve been In the woods past week or so getting ready for maple season . Today I was cutting off last years taps when I noticed the bark on this sugar maple was completely chewed thru . It’s common for squirrels to chew on the tubing in the woods and also deer lesser extent .

There is a small creek to the east about 200 plus yards away . My first thought was beaver but I haven’t seen any other sign of a beaver . Porcupine is another possibility but I’ve never seen one around my neck of the woods . If you look close you can see some of the wood chips . It’s about 2 ft or so off the ground . Needless to say , something in the sugarbush has a sweet tooth !

 

Looks like a woodpecker starting in

 

X2 that is what it looks like could be the woodpecker was tired of looking for a piece of ash

 

Pileated Woodpecker.

 

Exactly what I was going to post. If it is, prepare for more holes!

 

Woody....not to be confused with zap.....aka, thewoodlands

 

Thanks for the replies , I should have taken more close up pics of the actually shavings . It’s more like a beaver would do . I’ve seen a lot of the woodpecker holes and usually they are up higher and also on smaller sugar maples .

 

Pileated are common to be at base area on trees.

 

Woodpecker holes are where the insects are. High or low. I agree with the others that it looks like a woodpecker has started.

 

Definitely Genus homosasquatchian !

 

Get the game cam out.

 

yeah, I've seen woodpeckers working away on logs on the ground.

I swear though, squirrels will do crazy chit just to mess with ya.

 

I took these photos a few years ago of a pileated woodpecker digging in the dirt and throwing chunks of sod.

 

Pileated woodpeckers are pretty darn impressive.