What could’ve caused this? 🤔

[marc357]

Hard to tell from the pic, but looks like the weather stripping is damaged?
I have seen squirrels do damage like this over time, their claws are so small that they don't usually make big gouges, they're very fine scratches. Also their tiny paws can reach in there and tear up the weather stripping.

 

[jessej]

Caused by friction. In this spot you can see the direction of travel and the change in wear layers of paint

 

[jessej]

Different direction here.

 

[jessej]

I would say this happened over the course of a day or 2. Most likely scenario being the home owners left a female dog inside that room and a neighborhood male dog was determined to get in. The timing had to be just right, if you know what I mean.

 

[Chadp82]

I am on running with the pet idea.

They let a pet outside, left the door mostly closed but not latched, and the pet pushed its way back into the door when it wanted to come in. They probably did this every day or multiple times a day for a long period out of habit and just never noticed or ignored it.

We had similar stains/wear on an interior bedroom door when we had a cat. We left our bedroom door slightly ajar to hear our daughter as an infant down the hall if she cried overnight. The cat would sometimes work its way into the cracked open door at night to sleep under our bed. It lightly wore the paint off the door frame and door over time causing a very noticeable spot after many months.

Wider part at the top is the body, lower/narrow part is the legs.