Northern Ohio. We are getting bobcats back in my area, no bears we know of and those gashes are about 1-2” deep. Tree appears rotten.Is the tree rotten? Looks like something digging for bugs. What geographical area was it in?
Northern Ohio. We are getting bobcats back in my area, no bears we know of and those gashes are about 1-2” deep. Tree appears rotten.
I don't think it is a wookpecker. They generally don't work that low to the ground with virtical tell/tell signs. Most woodpeckers leave round patterns where they pecked for bugs.
Where I was hunting this one area back in New York it had a lot of dead pine trees with round markings an inch & a half deep from the woodpeckers. From about fifteen feet and higher.
Again, close to the ground and large holes are common for Pileated Woodpeckers. Nature of the beast........https://www.gardenfork.tv/signs-of-the-pileated-woodpecker/
Actually the holes made by Pileateds are the start to squirrel and owl nests