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Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Fri Feb 12, 16 9:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

An interesting article Treacodactyl. I didn't really understand the genetic stuff, as it is not my subject, but from the stuff I did understand, the experiment seems to have been carried out well. I had heard about this, but not seen the paper.

Another couple of things we have been told by FC with regard to Chelara is that thinning so the wind blows through is helpful, and that seedlings/coppice reaches the full adult immunity for that particular specimen at about 10 years old.

Squirrels will damage trees by sitting on a branch and stripping bark above the fork. We have a lot of trees damaged that way, but it doesn't affect the firewood quality, and apart from odd cases, it hasn't allowed in disease. The main problem we have found is that where they bark strip on a branch, it is usually the top, and decay can start there, so an apparently perfectly healthy branch from the ground can suddenly fall.

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
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Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
PostPosted: Fri Feb 12, 16 10:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

From what I can gather from my own experiences and discussing it with trappers, other woodland owners and people researching the damage is that it can be variable depending on a number of factors such as trees planted. I still don't think we know exactly why squirrels strip bark.

In my young woodland I did not initially have much of a problem but suddenly they stripped bark from a large number of young oaks, from branches to the stem, usually from about 1.5m upwards. some will recover but a number have basically had anything above 1.5m die off. Many of those that have survived will produce a weaker tree and it will be deformed. Long term I worry about weaker trees and how they will cope with higher winds.

In my more mature woodland they've attacked many of the mature trees, oak, ash, beech etc, but there doesn't seem to be a large amount of damage. The sycamore on the other hand appears to have been persistently attacked to an extend most of the trees have died. The problem with that is I'd like to plant sycamore for firewood but it would be pointless. (It is often suggested to plant maples such as syc as a sacrificial crop).

One thing though they have the potential to do a large amount of damage in a short space of time, in just a few weeks they can ruin a young plantation.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Feb 12, 16 12:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

a chum puts a vaseline chilli mix on his nuts (just dont ) and recons it puts them off.

it would be rather time consuming for a whole woodland though

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Sat Feb 13, 16 9:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

If the oaks are well established, you could try cutting them down to about 6" to 1' and letting them coppice. You could run them as coppice or select the best stem from each. You can also select the straightest shoot from where the damage is, or run them as pollards, with multiple stems above the damage. They will go either of the last two ways, and the first has been recommended to me, but I haven't tried it. We may have to on a tree that had an accident with a beech tree falling on it though.

Squirrels strip bark as far as I know for 2 reasons. First is to get at the sap, which is sweet. Second it seems to be young males and can be influenced by how many there are; seems to be too high population causes it rather than increasing gradually as the population increases. Trees up to about 40 years old are at most risk.

Treacodactyl
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 13, 16 10:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

There's a few things I could try with the oaks and it's not a huge problem for me as I'm only a hobby woodsman. However, if I coppice I've lost 25 years of growth as they're not really large enough to yield much wood. I would then need to protect the stools which is an additional cost. They also seemed to go for the best trees, the ones I'd side pruned to try and produce a usable clean trunk. All of which shows how squirrels can make broadleaves unviable commercially.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Sun Feb 14, 16 8:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Yes they can, particularly if you want good quality timber. They damage ours, but don't make it unviable as we have lots of different used for it.

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