Anne Lurie wrote:

Derek,

The holes you describe were made by a sapsucker
http://www.ancientforest.org/sapsucker.jpg Although sapsuckers are members
of the woodpecker family, they feed on living trees, because it's the sap
(and the insects it attracts) that is their target. To the best of my
knowledge, sapsuckers don't usually kill the trees they're using --
after all, if the tree died, there would be no more sap! ...

Not neccessarily. By the same logic, humans wouldn't usually kill the cows
we use

--
Susan Hogarth