(Lou Minatti) wrote:

Anyone know what critter bored these holes? They're not deep, perhaps
as deep as a pencil eraser.

http://www.watchingyou.com/treeholes.jpg

This is a Bradford pear. I'm in Houston. I took the picture back in
January, and I looked today and the tree is no worse for the wear. In
fact, it's just about fully leafed-out, putting on lots of new growth.
But the holes are still there. I didn't notice the boring on any of my
other trees, just this one.

Woodpecker, sapsucker, or flicker ... they drink the sap and/or
are after bugs under the bark and bugs attracted to the sap.

They'll heal over if you do nothing.

One (just one) of my backyard mesquites is very attractive to
these birds. They hammer it full of holes, and it's thriving.
My thought is that is has better-tasting sap than the others.


Tsu

--
To doubt everything or to believe everything
are two equally convenient solutions; both
dispense with the necessity of reflection.
- Jules Henri Poincaré