= new reply since forum marked as read
for the tree! 
I love trees.
Some trees are tough cookies. I have a red maple about ten feet from my kitchen window on the other side of the doggy yard fence.
It has survived:
Black bear climbing up it to jump the fence (breaking a few limbs)
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers pecking away at the upper trunk
A nasty caterpillar attack about 5 years ago (had to put sticky paper around the trunk)
Mr Pipi running into it with the riding mower.
Mr Pipi ramming it (and gouging out a large section of trunk) with his snowplow
Not only is it still alive, but it's thriving.
I don't know if red maples actually enjoy being abused like, say, lilacs...
I have a few lilac bushes on the other side of the house. They didn't really start to grow and produce flowers until I read that they enjoy a bit of masochism every now and then. So I scratched at the main trunk of one of them. The other I left alone. The one I abused just took off with growth. Who knew? 