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Have the trees in your windbreak turned brown? Do you notice trails of snow around the trunks of your trees? Are the buds disappearing from lower branches? Have sections of bark been stripped from your tree trunks? These telltale signs all point to hungry animal culprits.
Voles, rabbits, deer, and other animals that remain active during the winter months must adapt to scarce food supplies and changing weather conditions. The snow cover that results from prolonged winters protects small animals from predators, which leaves them free to damage your property. This same heavy snow also buries the food that satisfies deer. If your shrubs and trees are unprotected, deer will turn to them for nourishment, too.
What types of damage do these animals do? Typically, they gnaw on the smooth, tender bark at the base of young tree trunks and on the stems of shrubs. When animals feed on bark tissue and green food material beneath the stems and branches, it girdles the tree. The absence of tree bark debilitates the treeÕs essential structural support, compromises the nutrient conduction system, and leaves the tree lacking all-over protection. When bark is removed, water cannot be delivered to the foliage, and the tree dies.
How do you keep these animals out of your yard and, more specifically, away from your plants? There are several easy, and harmless, control methods to direct these animals from your plants. Tree wraps, fencing, and repellents are the ones most widely used.
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International Society of Arboriculture
