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Ambitious beaver

That makes me think... do you think this is a beaver or some other critter just chewing the cambium layer below the bark for some late winter sustenance? I've never seen a beaver here in southeast Pennsylvania.
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Patrick,

It doesn’t look like the beaver work that I’m used to seeing. Perhaps porcupine, which leaves long, chiseled tooth marks. Just wild speculation on my part. But a google search revealed similar damage attributed to porcupines.
 
I assumed it was beaver since there are lots of smaller trees nearby that have been felled by beaver and there is a lodge maybe 100 yards from the big tree (boat is pointed towards the lodge in the pic below taken last December). The big tree is also in a perfect spot to dam up a side branch of a big river and expand their territory. Maybe they were just eating bark or maybe we have porcupine around here. It will be interesting to see how it develops.
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We have a family that tried to dig canals in a wet field. They had a lodge in the center, a large outer ring and canals dug out from the lodge to the outer ring like spokes. On the brook, they had 9 dams and dug several pools on the edge of the field
 
Both porcupines and beaver have returned to our region after having beed extirpated many decades ago. I'd post photos if I could but I'm in the middle of computer issues so you'll just have to take my word for it. The beavers are brazen but the porcupines more recluse. A local rail trail passes through wetlands where their favoured poplars have been felled and de-limbed. The porcupines are not so industrious preferring to sit cozily in the branches and chew with a view. My wife and I have cycled by them in their respective repast, the beaver ever the alarmist slapping it's tail and plunging, the porcupine sitting sedately undisturbed even when on the ground. These are southern Ontario observations and may differ from Pennsylvania but the signs look just the same. Thanks for this sign of spring Gumpus.
 
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