I live in Southern California. We have a Juniper Hedge, 15' tall and wide and 150' long, a veritable wall that gives us privacy from the street.
Lately, whole branches of the junipers have turned brown. I found that areas of the bark on those branches had been gnawed away, girdling and killing the juniper trees. A gardener said it was caused by rats.
Is it a common trait of rats to eat tree bark?? What can I do about it? What is the best way to get rid of outdoor rats that eat tree bark?
Can you post some pictures? It sound more like a disease then animal damage.
Wrong again, LeftyLoon. They're prolly ObamaRats, the hungriest most destructive species of all.
"LeftyLoon", oh, I'm crushed. Is that the best you can do?
LOL
Is there a drought in your area?
Rabbits have stripped bark off of my fruit trees when we had a drought. I really can't see rats chewing bark off juniper trees, when there are so many other plants that would be more nutritious for them.
Yes, we are in a multi-year drought. Many trees simply quit and die. So far, California has lost 100 million trees to this drought.
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