Question
my grandma has a willow tree in her yard, she noticed some a white substances coming from the tree so we wiped it off and seen a whole bunch of holes which do a little more research i found that the holes were made by a yellow belly sap sucker, she told me no she had not seen or heard any bird at the tree. is there something else that can make those holes? and what is the white substance?

Answer
Layla:
The yellow bellied sap sucker is a type of woodpecker. We have them here in Arkansas. They are a protected bird here, so we cannot kill them.  One of the ways to recognize their "presence" is that they usually make a bunch of holes (about 1/4 inch diameter)that are usually arranged in a nice pattern that are evenly spaced from one another.  Sometimes these holes can go around the entire stem.  If the white substance is coming from the tree holes it may be sap or fermented sap that results from a bacterial disease called slime flux or bacterial wetwood.  Slime flux is usually "foamy" and smells like alcohol and attracts insects. So it may be just sap coming from the holes or it could be slime flux.

Steve