Northern Red Oak Tree and beaver damage (photos from Oct 29 and Nov 17)

Aughhhh... The beaver has moved his felling operation to our boat dock area. He has chewed into a gorgeously healthy oak on the shoreline right next to where we chain up my beloved pond prowler!

Here is a closer look at the beaver damage where the beaver cut through about half the tree. 

I like this photo that shows the ring of wood shavings around the tree from the beaver's work! It looks rather festive and symmetrical;-)

And, I found that the rings are showing up nicely through all the parts of the wood. I am assuming that the dark center that is still quite moist, is the heartwood of the tree with the lighter wood being the living sapwood. 

Jump ahead 19 days...The tree is gradually drying and the rings are getting lighter in color, but the heartwood is still darker than the sapwood.

Here is the other side of the cut. I find it interesting that the bottom wood is turning yellow where it was white a few weeks ago.

I decided to photograph the beaver cut a bit more closely as the rings were apparent as well as xylem tubes in the heartwood! (I was also trying out the macro mode on my P1000 camera.) I love the colors in this photo...

Could these be the phloem tubes (see arrow) in the cambium? It is just in from the edge of the bark that you can see in the lower right.

I went home and got a different camera body so I could use my 100mm lens with a Kenko 12mm extension tube for a closer look at the tree rings with xylem tubes. These tubes transport water up the tree, from the roots to the leaves, for photosynthesis.  What I find fascinating is that we see them more pronounced in the thin, darker rings of winter, yet you can see the tubes running through the summer (lighter) wood. I don't know how far individual tubes run but they are an incredible transport system.

Here is another view of the tree rings and xylem tubes in the heartwood. You can also see the scrapes of the beaver's teeth running diagonally through the rings.

Here is the cambium (in from the bark) where we are seeing phloem tubes that transport sugars from the leaves down through the tree to where they are needed during spring and summer.

Finally, Drew decided to put some fencing around "our" boat tie-up tree (also an oak) to hopefully keep the beaver at bay from taking that tree down as well. We also need to wrap fencing around the maple that is adjacent to our dock so it doesn't fall victim to the beaver!