I would say rabbits, unless you have a water source nearby to harbor beavers. I really don't know if hot sauce or repellent would work. I personally would place chicken wire or something similar around the base of the trees, (not against the trees but around them)to prevent the animals from snacking on them and causing more damage. As for the damage-time will tell, although too much damage to the bark can be fatal.

Hope this helps!

Rhonda

I would go to Lowes, Home Depot or a hardware store and buy Hardware Cloth. It is metal screening and I use it in winter to protect Flowering Dogwoods, Small trees and bushes. I have snowcover that varies from year to year, but I make sure it reaches at least 2 feet.

Another option is to purchase trunk guards. These may be found at retail nurseries. Ask for assistance, and describe your situation - I am positive you will get what you are looking for.

Make sure you cover from the ground up - Voles, Rabbits are my main headaches, but I do not have problems since I use the above precautions in late fall.

HTH ~
Gerry

Sounds like deer rubbing if it is 3 feet up.

I agree with Esh. I had a magnolia that was in a cage. It finally got large enough this past summer to take the cage off. With the fall, the deer came through and not only took off some bark but rubbed most of the side limbs off! Topiary magnolia? We put the cage back on, and maybe we will see new growth this summer.

I have a nice willow sapling that received this treatment from a deer recently...right before a 9oF night here in NC. It is now probably firewood. Since moving into deer territory, I now have a different view of these majestic animals...they easily rank with Japanese beetles and mosquitoes.

Thanks for your comments. I've looked at pictures on the web for animal damage on trees. The dear and squirrel damage leaves the trees smooth. The trees are in the middle of a secret garden that leaves footprints of my dog when she gets off the brick path. There are no deer or large animal prints around the trees. The gnawing is very small. It honetly looks like the pattern of an eaten corn on the cob, even the actual size of the corn, very small. Everything I've read say voles, which I have) start at the base. It puzzles me that they started gnawing in the middle. If I use the screening and It is voles, can they climb it?
Thanks again,
Margie

Voles can climb and jump but have you had snow this winter that was almost as high as the bites? Most voles have smaller teeth than you are suggesting.

I'm just realizing I'm not making myself clear. The marks on the trunk( about 3in in diameter) are patterned like the corn on the cob. Each gnawing is the size of a corn kernel. That's pretty small. I live in West Tn. We have had no snow to speak of.

A picture would really help clarify things. Can you post one?

I have seen patterns like that from sapsucker damage (birds that drill small holes and they can be very close together). Around here, they love my hollies.

Here is a link that might be useful: Look at this picture

I have the very same damage to my leatherleaf viburnums, which have been healthy and unaffected for 14 years. Today I have an arborist in my garden who told me that this is the work of a bird in the woodpecker family, likely a sapsucker. His suggestion is to hang a small artificial owl in the branches in hopes of frightening off the woodpecker. It is uncertain whether the viburnums will recover from the damage. It will be a matter of waiting until spring. Hope this helps.

I noticed my viburnum which is over 30 years looked awful this spring. Then I noticed this pattern of notches just as you described like corn cob notches about three feet off the ground. Didn't fit any description of common pest. So looks like the sapsucker is the culprit. Will it survive? One branch will have to go. OR should I just prune it? Leave it to see if it survives?

I have just seen the exact same damage on my mature viburnum bushes, gnawing 3 feet above the ground that looks like corn on the cob, well into a bush, and there is NO evidence of deer and we would see it. We live in KY. This has caused extensive damage done either late fall, or winter. Did you solve your problem? How did you treat?

Since this old thread has been resurrected, I'll second that it's sapsucker damage, no doubt.

click HERE to see sapsucker damage to viburnum

Thank you for your replies. Did you treat to stop? We have pruned extensively, and don't want more damage. Anyway to prevent in future?

I have the same problem and it looks like corn on the cob. Thank you for the comments, looks like a sap sucker.