Ants nest.

[Ollie ellis]

I have 4 acres of mixed woodland. Ash oak sweet chestnut and hazel. It is all on a slope. 2 of my trees oak and sweet chesnut are infested with ants. Both entry points are less than a metre from the base and you can see clearly the lack of heartwood tree inside. One has lots of sawdust out side the other dosent. They are not near each other. They both have leaves on them however one is leaning down the hillside. What i really want to know is do they need to come down. And if i fell them will the ants just move to the next nearest tree.
I know there have been lots of posts but need specific answers.
Thanks a lot

 

[BC WetCoast]

You didn't mention what kind of ants, but if they are carpenter ants, they are looking to make their nests in decayed wood. Given that you can see inside the tree, it is hollow and that is why they are using it for a nest.

The question of whether they need to come down is difficult to answer. The primary question back to you would be; are there any targets? That is, if was to fall, would it damage your house, property, land on the road etc or would it just land in amongst the other trees? If there are no targets, I would leave it. The ants aren't going to attack healthy trees.

In doing hazard tree evaluations, the mantra is 'if there are no targets, there is no hazard'.

 

[Ollie ellis]

Its next to a path so i dont want it to fall over. Although it moves ok and is leafing.
The whole is big enough toget 2 hands in and is about 500mm diameter. I know they only eat dead wood but do they weaken the structure enough for itcto fall over or die

 

[Shagbark]

I would eliminate the ants first. Diatomaceous earth in the hole and maybe an insecticide they carry back to the main nest that will wipe them out.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Its next to a path so i dont want it to fall over. Although it moves ok and is leafing.
The whole is big enough toget 2 hands in and is about 500mm diameter. I know they only eat dead wood but do they weaken the structure enough for itcto fall over or die

How often is the path used? Is it used in storms? What I'm trying to show is that you have to analyze the risk. (Risk being probability of the event times the consequence of the event). If the path is lightly used, then the probability of the tree failing and hitting someone is very low. Does the consequence of someone getting hit override the very low likelihood of someone actually getting hit? You, as the decision maker, are the only one who can make that decision.

We can provide the analysis, you then need to take that data and make the decision.

 

[Oldman47]

If you choose to leave the trees in place there is no point to removing the small animals that are using the hollow trunk and the decaying wood. One reason that damaged trees, snags, are often left standing is as homes for "wildlife".