Arbutus menziesii is a fodder plant for deer , but looking at the size of the trunk @ lower left , this seems unlikely . Are there any kind of animal/bird droppings nearby ?
Have you checked at night for nocturnal visitors ; quite baffling really
I even put a 24" wide 1/16": thick clear, slippery plastic sheath ring around (8ft circumference) trunk of the Madrone tree to stop anything to crawl up the trunk, still there are clipping mostly in the morning... So what what ever it is, it is flying...
Are the leaves being actually eaten ? Or is it just superficial damage ? Foraging Big Brown Bats are endemic to your area aren't they ? Maybe just vandalising in the process of searching for insects .
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Arbutus menziesii is a fodder plant for deer , but looking at the size of the trunk @ lower left , this seems unlikely . Are there any kind of animal/bird droppings nearby ?
Have you checked at night for nocturnal visitors ; quite baffling really
I even put a 24" wide 1/16": thick clear, slippery plastic sheath ring around (8ft circumference) trunk of the Madrone tree to stop anything to crawl up the trunk, still there are clipping mostly in the morning... So what what ever it is, it is flying...
This might sound stupid , but where are you residing ?
Seattle, Washington, USA
Are the leaves being actually eaten ? Or is it just superficial damage ? Foraging Big Brown Bats are endemic to your area aren't they ? Maybe just vandalising in the process of searching for insects .
The actual shoots are bitten off at the base (clump of leaves), seem some of the leaves are torn but not eaten... superficially damaged.
There is no fruits or early summer Madrone flowers left on the tree...
Problem "solve" though still don't know what caused the problem of stripping the Madrone tree leafs.