My daughter had her very tall small, tree branches cut off, like a pair of pruning shears did it, a clean cut. Is there an animal that can do this?

I have thought about this and I can't come up with any logical explanation.
Sorry!
Deer could do it, but not from that height. Groundhog or Woodchuck is a possibility but not at that height! A beaver is capable, but again, not at that height.
A few branches are pretty thick which might eliminate smaller critters.
Would a bird be capable? Maybe. They might take branches for nest building. BUT that raises another question. Any bird or mammal that could be a suspect for whatever purpose, why would they leave them laying on the ground??? That makes no sense to me.
A large bird of prey, or a Great Blue Heron gathering nesting material would rip branches, not leave nice clean cuts.

Just after posting my comment, I thought of a viable suspect, a porcupine!
I know they climb trees and eat things like this but again, why climb when you pass up all that food at ground level?
Why leave it laying?
Cuts are too clean.

Hi Nick, I've been thinking about this too. Been thinking about animals in New York in particular. I've had plenty of animals eating my stuff. Almost all of them leave the plants looking chewed on except for birds. In my experience they are the only ones that leave the plants looking like the leaves or branches have been cut off with scissors. Nice, clean, straight cuts. Here's the interesting part. I have lots of small gray birds, think canary size, that will clip huge leaves of my broccoli and cabbages. But the leaves are far too big and heavy for them to carry them more then a few feet. I often see lots of leaves a few feet away right next to the fence. They can't fly that high with such big leaves. Makes me wonder wonder what large birds are building nests right now. Gotta say, I would really love to know what is causing the damage.

Large birds making nests in the Spring could include Common crow, Grest Blue Heron, Eagles, perhaps large Raptors like Goshawk, Red tailed and Red Shouldered Hawk. But even if it is one of those, they are not capable of sharp clean cuts. They rip and tear.
Small gray birds could be chickadees, Titmice or Juncos.
If things are feeding on veggies and stuff are more likely the cause then birds. Different species of mice, voles, groundhogs, squirrels, rabbits, deer, porcupines, might be responsible.

A person with pruning shears is my guess.

Can you put out motion activated game cameras at night to see you can catch the varmint in the act? Seems odd that an animal would saw off branches and leave them there. I agree with Sue, it sounds like a two-legged pest with a saw to me.

I agree with Sue. It looks like the work of a human.

Only a human would cut the branches so cleanly and then pile them up.

What's on the other side of those trees?

There is an inground pool on the other side of the tall trees/shrubs. The trees/shrubs are at least 20' tall.
Getting a motion activated camera to put out by them. Seems to clean for an animal.

No animal chews a clean cut like that. How bizarre. Can't begin to figure out that scenario.

The trees were interfering with someone's view?

porkpal said: The trees were interfering with someone's view?

...or sunlight on the pool?

The trees/shrubs are right next to their pool. They own the property in front and behind the trees. Only one house with 3 stories, next to them, that can look down into the pool area if trees were trimmed. The trees are approximately 200-250' away from the neighbor's house.

Has nothing to do with view or sunlight!

But if they wanted to improve the view, the cut branches did not open a window in the vegetation to allow for that.
Besides, if some one owned a pool, you would think that most people would want privacy and not poke holes in the vegetation.
If the pool owners want more sun light, why not top the trees from 20' to 10'. And by the way, those trees seem to be taller then 20'.
Any chance there is a power line running up to or away from the damaged area. I could see it if access to the power line was needed for repairs. Or is there any chance that there is building going on nearby? Would a survey crew come in to establish a boundary line or would they have come to capture a line of sight??

However I am happy that it is extremely unlikely that any type of critter is responsible. I tried like crazy to think of a critter scenario and none fit!
Human intervention seems likely. But even in that case why? What was accomplished? What was gained? This seems just so bizarre!!!!

Such an interesting conversation! Looks like we'd all like to know who the culprits are. Just wanted to say that I have spent many hours sitting in the shade of a tree enjoying the show as my little gray birds try to fly over the 6' chain link fence with broccoli branches that are 3-4 times their size.

Keep us updated

Thank you for all of your input.
My husband and others think a porcupine did it because upon further examination, the limbs are chewed every 5mm on each stem. It starts from the bottom and goes up.
The limbs were in the trees. My son in law piled them up on the ground.
I just don't see why a human would do it. Nothing to really see from where it was cut.
My daughter is determined the neighbors did it. I don't see where it helps the neighbors, visually, to see their pool.

pam4473 said: Thank you for all of your input.
My husband and others think a porcupine did it because upon further examination, the limbs are chewed every 5mm on each stem. It starts from the bottom and goes up.
The limbs were in the trees. My son in law piled them up on the ground.
I just don't see why a human would do it. Nothing to really see from where it was cut.
My daughter is determined the neighbors did it. I don't see where it helps the neighbors, visually, to see their pool.

As the trees are fully on your daughter's property and the pool beyond it is also your daughter's, I see no reason why a neighbor would do it. Especially as the branches were left "in situ" after being cut.

With the further investigation and the chew marks going up the stems, I would agree with a porcupine.