Boring damage to a black oak
 

I have large black oak growing out of a shale cliff about 5' above a lake in
western NY.

Every year it develops holes that liquid flows out of. Occasionally there
are piles of sawdust below the holes. The holes are about 3/4" diameter.
There are healed holes elsewhere on the trunk.

I have found what appears to be the remains of large moths stuck in two of
the holes, but don't know if they are related to the problem or when in
after the sap.

Any idea what the problem is, or what I should do about it? Is there a
better group to post a tree question to?
Thanks.

"toller" wrote in message
...
I have large black oak growing out of a shale cliff about 5' above a lake
in western NY.

Every year it develops holes that liquid flows out of. Occasionally there
are piles of sawdust below the holes. The holes are about 3/4" diameter.
There are healed holes elsewhere on the trunk.

I have found what appears to be the remains of large moths stuck in two of
the holes, but don't know if they are related to the problem or when in
after the sap.

Any idea what the problem is, or what I should do about it? Is there a
better group to post a tree question to?
Thanks.

It's suffering from dog urine burn. Shoot your neighbors dog and see if it
improves.

3/4" holes are cause for some concern. The most likely cause would be a
carpenter bee, but you might want to also check into the Asian
Longhorned Beetle which is a serious threat to trees now.
When insects pupate they leave bits of silk and the like behind.
The carpenter bee is not a serious problem as it only makes a home .
The asian Longhorn Beetle is a tree killer because the larvae girdle
the tree under th bark.

Actually I think it's suffering from Doug urine burn. Shoot Doug and
see if it improves.

On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 11:39:55 -0400, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:
snip
It's suffering from dog urine burn. Shoot your neighbors dog and see if it
improves.