red scars on red oaks

red scars on red oaks --

signs of a buck in rut

rubbing his antlers

Iowa hunters accidentally shot and wounded five of their fellow hunters during yesterday's fog that so effectively concealed the deer. I'm glad I didn't go for a walk in the woods on the second day of hunting season. Even though our area is posted, a hunter might not have seen the No Hunting sign in the dense fog.
          Today the fog is gone, replaced by blue rain clouds. It's two weeks before the Winter Solstice but it feels more like the Spring Equinox, with the temperature peaking at 70 F/21 C. Along Pilgrim Creek I find fresh signs of a buck rubbing his antlers on some red oak trees. In early fall bucks will rub small trees to remove the velvet on their antlers, and in late winter they will rub bigger trees to help shed their antlers. At this time of year, late autumn, the bucks are in rut, competing with each other to win does, and rubbing trees is the buck's way of marking his territory, showing his dominance and intimidating other bucks. 
          This "rubbing" causes serious injury to the tree. The outer bark has been shredded and scraped, exposing the softer red inner bark and the underlying white wood. Fortunately, the bark has not been stripped all the way around the trunk, girdling the tree, which would cut off the flow of water and minerals and most likely cause it to die. But it's still a nasty wound which will take time to heal, leaving the tree with a weak spot and an ugly scar.