Need help with scratch marks on trees

Papaclaude

Papaclaude

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I just noticed the following scratch marks on several trees around my tree stand. They are anywhere from 3 to 6 feet off the ground. To the best of my knowledge, there are no bears in the area. The marks are on maple trees, and are a good 1/4" deep.
They are recent, but I think they slightly predate the snow, so I didn't see any tracks.


 
Papaclaude said:
Could be. I have never seen such marks before, though. Moose would tend to rub all the bark off, and more likely to do so when they are losing their velvet, no?
Click to expand...

Those marks are not from their antlers, they're made with their teeth.


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Moose scrapes. Very similar to these scrapes I found this year.





These tracks were at the base of the pictured trees, and all over the road.
 
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would be something peeling the bark off, not claw marks. you can see by some of them the start low and go up the tree to stop and a sharp angle. id hazard a guess its a young moose. was going to say porcupine. but the strips are much to big, and they more nibble than take long strips.
 
neat pics an cool to see another critters rubs or markings. the photo of the moose eating the bark makes sense!

I've never seen anytin like that round here :)

WL
 
I feel there are 2 different reasons....The first post was definitely antler Rub!!! The pic of moose eating bark was obvious!!! The antler rubs are gores in the tree, gouges, when they strip the bark to eat it, they dig their bottom front teeth (that's all they have) into bark, and strip it off to eat. It's obvious at the top of the wound that bark has been pulled off. I have watched them do both, very different marks.
 
Like the others have said, it is from a moose feeding on the bark. I've watched them doing this on a few occasions. Around here, they seem to prefer red maple, and late fall/early winter is when you will find the fresh evidence of their feeding. Elk will do this also, though I believe that they prefer poplar to maple.
 
:DWell I'll be a son of a mama dog! They are moose. There are moose in the area. I lived all my life in NE Ontario and hunted them for almost 30 years, but I had never seen that. I guess there was plenty of small poplar and birch for them to feed on. Maybe I just hadn't noticed.

Thanx a million guys. For a while there, I was a little worried. Several years ago, there was a cougar seen in the area, and I did see tracks. Not scared of the cougar, more worried that if there was one, the area I hunt in would be declared a sanctuary:D

I'll go to bed a little less stupid tonite:)
 
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Are there Elk in your area? Could be Elk. But Elk like the softer trees, poplar, aspen, willow family.

Definitely not deer antlers, those marks encircle the entire tree, in a process called "girdling"

Deer have been known to like maple bark, but those are HUGE teeth....

My guess would be Moose though based on the sheer size of the mud prints.
 
It is a moose beyond question... I have a number of woodlots that are covered in identical marks... And I have watched moose doing it... They seem to like, poplar, aspen, and red maple... But for desert, they go crazy for mountain maple.
 
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