Deer or Squirrels....

I thought of squirrels as well Ilex

its quite low down so how about encasing the stem with a couple of those curly rabbit guards as a bit of protection

rodent teeth would of actualy scratched the stem up a lot more than that i think and but deer havnt got such teeth and do love young trees . my guess is deer .

Thanks for your help, especially the suggestion re rabbit guards. I think I might lose this tree as the bark's all gone half the way round. It's only a self seeded sycamore, but one of a pair on either side of the gate (that's why I put the gate where it is), so a bit of a nuisance. :-( Still, it can have its chance to recover. I'll put guards round both "entrance" trees.

there fairly resiliant trees actualy and can take a fair bit of punishment . they will be great fun when there mature enough to seed . you will have hundreds of them if not thousands .

These 2 saplings are close to the edge of a sycamore wood, so I know all about the millions of seedlings. There was no damage the night after I posted the picture, but today the bark has gone up to about 5' 6" and almost all round. And they've started on another tree a bit further away (also a sycamore). The first area to be gnawed has gone brown and now I can see millions of tiny toothmarks. So the deer are exonerated I think and the squirrels are in the frame! Grrr. They ate lots of bulbs this winter / spring too.

little blighters you could excuse the pun kill 2 birds with one stone here if you can sew . shoot the squirrals and save your trees and make your misses a spiffing real squirrel fir coat for her birthday . you should get a few browny points for that lol . for all the animal lovers im only joking so dont try this at home lol .

My son's already asked for a crossbow to sort the little blighters out. No coat for the missus, but I could make a natty hat for my old man! :-)

lol you can eat grey squirrels aparrantly . they taste a bit like chicken .anyway take care bye for now .