A large pine tree (3.5ft dia.) was pouring sap about 20ft up, with no apparent damage. Is this normal?!!?
We do have woodpeckers in the area, but I've never seen them cause that kind of damage, and I didn't think that they would go much past the bark.
I know there are a lot of different diseases that the trees in this area are susceptible, but are there any that might cause this?
I'm just unsure if this is a naturally occuring thing, like a healing process, or if I really need to worry. (It's on a hill with the neighbor's house below...)
Answers:
Yeah it is normal. especially around this time of year. i use to have pine trees in my back yard and every spring they would seep sap.
Other answers:
yes same here, might be amber material in a few billion years.
yes same here, might be amber material in a few billion years.
This usually will happen in an area where some damage has occured. It's possible that a branch was lost during a storm over the winter and now that it's warm, the sap is more liquid and starting to drip down the tree. It's is normal for this to happen and the "scab" should heal over in time and it will not drip so much. It's very much like a person getting cut. It it really bothers you and you want to climb up there, you could cover the area with roofing tar or thick paint to stop it.
Woodpeckers can cause pine trees to "bleed". I wouldnt worry about the sap, its common on larger trees.
Bark beetles mine the inner bark (the phloem-cambial region) on twigs, branches, or trunks of trees and shrubs. This activity often starts a flow of tree pitch in conifers and is accompanied by a sawdust like material (frass). Frass accumulates in bark crevices or may drop and be visible on the ground or in spider webs. Small emergence holes in the bark with sap weeping out of the holes are a good indication that bark beetles have been present. Bark beetles commonly attack trees weakened or predisposed to infestation by drought, disease, injuries, or other factors that may stress the tree. Beetles can contribute to the decline and eventual death of trees but with a few exceptions usually are not the initial cause.
Seeing frass (sawdust-like material) is the best indicator of bark beetles in pines. Seeing the emergence holes, especially in a larger tree, is not always practical.
Woodpeckers can cause this kind of sap flow, especially at this time of year when sap flow is at its height.
Well some pines, not all, drip sap. More important is that it could be infected with pine beattles or gypsy moth larvae, no cure cut it down........in that case