There's some odd "stuff" around a tree on the ground that I've never seen before. It's a whitish substance that roughly circles my shellbark hickory that I can't ID. It has the texture of a stiff "putty" that very roughly circles the hickory -- solid, but I could imprint it w/my fingernail. It has no odor and hasn't changed in at least 2 weeks. It circles the tree but one small section comes right up to the trunk (4th pic) then back away and it is a complete connected circle tho hard to see in some spots. My guess was that it might be some animal "deposit" but nothing that I can think of. Or perhaps it's some kind of fungus? Slime molds don't look like that tho. I have no idea...