Why is this Sweet Gum log done this way?

I just thought of it. The center tastes icky.
Jim

Definitely beaver action.

Yes it is beavers. Not to do w/changing water levels. The love SWEET GUM trees. yum yum That tree was 20 feet long and i just broke that end off. Chewed the whole length like that.
Most likely eating the bark and definatly sharpening his teeth.


"How do beavers keep their teeth sharp?

All beavers have very sharp, large front teeth that they use for cutting. Scientists call animals with special
teeth like this rodents. Beavers' front teeth are very special - they never stop growing! They must chew to trim their teeth to keep them from getting too long. The more they use their teeth, the sharper they become. Furry lips close behind their front teeth to keep water out when they go underwater. They have 20 teeth in total with chisel-shaped ends.



Do beavers really eat wood?

Yes. Beavers' favorite food is tree bark! In spring, they like to eat juicy shrubs and tree buds. During the fall, they eat more bark than usual to put on more fat for the winter. In fall, they cut down many trees and gnaw them into smaller pieces. These are stored in big underwater piles near their homes. It's like having a pantry! When the ice freezes over the top of their pond, beavers dive down to their food stored underwater. If they run out of food, they just start eating bits of their house!"

Yes, you will not find many Sweet Gums left around beaver hangouts. That chunk was in the Chattahoochee River and was probably floated down from a distance and may have been the recipient of a mass tooth sharpening orgy along with a meal of bark. Probably their favorite food.
We hate Sweet Gums. They seed out everywhere. Grow like weeds. And have wavy grain preventing them from being split for firewood. Though they have great heating value. The beavers must have
flooded farm land? We can get permits for dynamite to shoot their dams.I trap them here on my little creeks and am good at it. I can tell if they are here by looking at the trunks of a dozen Sweetgums along the creek/driveway. Freshly skinned off bark.

A ten inch Conniber does the job

That log is fat. Bet it weighed more than 200 pounds. Liked to have sunk little John the boat.

I love sity slickers. Too funny Fossilman

Beaver only eat the stems, twigs, and bark (phloem and sometimes cambium) as that is where the nutrition is. The inner part of the tree (xylem) is mostly indigestible cellulose. They chew the inner part to 1)fell a tree and 2)sharpen their teeth. I suspect this beaver or very possibly different beaver made these cuts on several different trips and picked different spots to chew. In my experience, only if there was a severe shortage of trees will they chew on a standing tree just to keep their teeth sharp.

How much wood does a wood chuck chuck if a ... Oh, wait, that's not avbeaver. Nevermind!

Rats and mice (and rabbits) are the same way, their teeth grow there entire lives, and they must gnaw to keep them from growing too long.

Farms and cattle ranches. We always kept a couple of cases of dynamite in the barn for eliminating beaver dams and winter ice dams in the Snake River, which also caused flooding of farmland. Since we lived in Jim Bridger country we used traps in the style named for him

Hey, I resemble that remark!  But then, I'm smarter than the average bear, Boo-Boo!