A: There are many things that could cause bark on a tree to split: mechanical damage, animal damage, a lightening strike, even a fluctuating weather pattern. The weather rapidly toggling between mild and cold can create ‘frost cracks’ as a tree’s vascular system freezes and thaws.

Given that the peels here look like they were made with a potato peeler, my hunch is that a hornet is stripping the bark to build its nest.

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