Not sure if this is the correct place to post this question but here goes... How can one tell for sure if a tree has taken a lightning hit? There is a medium sized tree in my back yard which is relatively close to many other bigger trees that has been split right down the middle from it's natural fork, down about 4 feet before the split ends. This happened after a thunderstorm night before last. I know for a fact that this tree was fine before the storm as I had just looked at it the day before thinking about how I would trim it while the leaves were off it. This just doesn't look like wind damage to me. The tree has been otherwise healthy until this. We had one extremely very loud crack of thunder with brilliant white flash which [I]had[/I] to have been a very close hit during that storm. This neighborhood seems to be a popular target for lightning with 3 trees having been taken out in the last 2 years within 500 feet of my home. Any thoughts or experiences anyone can share on this?

I have found what appear to be sections of mud tunnels in three places around my home. In one location there are three tunnels side by side extending about 3 inches down from the bottom of the siding. In another location a two-inch mud tunnel extended from a wall across the garage ceiling. These are not active tunnels, but I’m wondering if they are evidence of past termite infestations or something else? My home is located in a rural part of southern Massachusetts.