Unusual for squirrels to chew on pine. Even rabbits for that matter. But it happens.

The damage is minor and will close up or encapsulate itself in a season or two.

You probably should surround the trunk with hardware cloth or chicken wire to prevent future damages, until the tree heals, grows larger and the squirrels realize that pine tastes awful. :-)

You could spray the wounds with fungicide, if you want, to help prevent something getting started in there but it's not necessary, just if you have some around already. But don't use any kind of sealer or paint on them. That looks bad and can cause other problems like not allowing the tree to heal properly.

Bill, thanks for the reply and info.

im not sure i would do anything about the very minor boo boos ... besides try to figure out whats doing it ...

how high is the damage from the ground??

what i would do.. is remove the grass ... expose the root flare.. and properly mulch a 2 or 3 foot circle around the trunk ... if for no other reason.. to keep the lawn dude away from it... especially if there is a weedwhip involved ...

ken

ps: are there children around.. who might deny knowing what this is??? ....lol

Thanks Ken. You gave me an image of a band-aid and some neosporin on the boo-boos. Lol.
The first boo-boo is 6" up from the ground and the second is 12". I do my own yardwork and I actually use scissors to trim the grass around seedlings/saplings. Trying to keep Bermudagrass out of the mulch around trees is a very difficult if not impossible task and I keep my trimmer away. So I compromise and just hand trim it away. No kids and the root flare is actually exposed (on what little flare there is on the southern yellow pines).

Really does look like it got bumped by a lawn mower.

Definitely, 100% confident it was not bumped by a lawn mower nor hit by a trimmer/edger. Trust me, if I hit it, lightly or hard, I'd be beating myself up for being such an idiot as I am exceedingly careful. lol. Now maybe a rock got thrown out by the mower but that's the only thing I can think regarding the lawn equipment. There were two stakes next to the tree that would've prevented the mower from getting that close to the side of the damage plus, like I mentioned, I do my own yardwork and am 100% confident I have not bumped or hit the tree with any thing. I am assuming squirrels because outside of neighbors cats and lizards, nothing else would typically be in my backyard. I've read from places, like this link/quote below, that squirrels will do damage. Ultimately, just want to not lose the tree and prevent further damage from occurring.

http://icwdm.org/handbook/rodents/TreeSquirrels.asp

"Squirrels may occasionally damage forest trees by chewing bark from branches and trunks. Pine squirrels damage Ponderosa pine, jack pine, and paper birch. In the Southeast, fox squirrels damage loblolly and other pines."

Should be no problem for a pine, they are tough trees. It will cover the damage with its sticky resin and no disease will get through to infect the tree