Cow ate my tree!

[nathancmartz]

So i came home from work to this today. We have some cattle in a lot with our cypress tree. Apparently it was tasty! My question is is this tree going to make it? is there anything i can do for it? This is the largest cypress in our county. I really hate to lose it!

 

[JeffGu]

It will probably survive this. Let it heal up on its own.

I'd suggest a very sturdy fence around it. Cows and horses will chew on almost anything... wood, urethane foam, rubber mats, plastic buckets. They're not fond of metal, however. Fence will have to be spaced away from the tree a little further than a cow can reach. I'd suggest about four feet out from the trunk.

 

[Jed1124]

Like it was previously said leave it be. It will probably be fine. Shoot the cow and make burger out of it.

 

[husqvarna257]

You could put a guard around it to prevent any more problems. But as said it should survive it.

 

[CacaoBoy]

Yeah. Cattle like variety in their diets. A few years ago a determined steer got through the fence protecting some young royal palms and was nibbling fronds. The wife saw it and ran at him screaming, waving her arms wildly, and slapping the 1000 lb beast. The poor guy was terrified and leaped clean over the fence. Ever after that day, even as he grew to be 1800 lb, when my wife was around him you could see him thinking "be careful not to piss off the crazy lady" and he was very well behaved.

Guards around trees are important not only to keep cattle from eating trees but also because they put a lot of weight into their small hoof-prints, and that can damage the roots of many trees. Try to keep the cattle at least 3 to 4 feet away from the trunk.

 

[Huskybill]

If it doesn’t make it build something. A boat? A new kitchen table? I hope it lives.