What did this to my tree?

[oosik]

OK At first I did not see the claw marks. Looks to be about as high as the "animal" can reach. I vote on a beaver.

 

[rademamj1]

I also think Beaver is the primary suspect. They are stripping the bark to work it into their mounds. They may come back for more.

 

[Egon]

Trail from the creek? Probably beaver?? Too low for deer and not quite like what they leave when they are rubbing velvet off their antlers.

 

[Doughknob]

Angry neighbor?

 

[dodge man]

I’ve seen a lot of beaver damage before and it doesn’t look like it to me. Looks like a deer scrape but some of the damage is down low.

 

[tradosaurus]

Never heard of 'em. Somewhere between a beaver, groundhog, rat and oppossum .....

Lived south of Lafayette, LA for about 8 yrs and cajuns would eat nutria rats. Of course Cajuns would eat almost any critter.

 

[ruffdog]

Willow bark will come off very easily once started. I have plenty of deer rubs here and none of them go to the ground like that. Also, the underlying wood will have gouges from the antlers. Whatever did it, it was only after the bark to eat or use as bedding.

 

[mikester]

Tractor tire rubbing on tree will do that too.

 

[arto98607]

.................snip.................

How lethal is this to the tree? It's maybe 10" diameter and around 5 years old, being a willow it should be fairly resilient but that's a lot of damage, any good way to treat it to help it along?

It's usually not good to leave it untreated.

We have a habit of painting any fruit, maple, or birch tree pruning cuts above one inch diameter with exterior latex paint which has been diluted with small amount of Lysol.

It keeps the bugs away and the bark should eventually regrow.
Seems to work good and is whole lot cheaper than any specialty commercial products.

Use your favorite color.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

My guess would be something mechanical did the damage. Not any animal. I've seen similar damage on logging sites where a downed tree is dragged and rubs bark off other trees.

Was the area under water and could another tree have floated by and rubbed on this willow?
Could a tractor or bulldozer have caused this?