Outdoor cafeteria

Another restaurant has hit the dust. That is, a woodpecker’s restaurant. An old dead tree that had been a gathering place for woodpeckers and other birds seeking morsels of grub has fallen down. Beetles and many destructive insects were on the menu of the “Dead Tree Cafeteria.”

When a tree dies, it takes on a new role. It becomes a wildlife inn, providing shelter, food and nesting sites for all kinds of forest creatures. Chris McLaughlin in “Wildlife Examiner” writes, “If you think there is no life left in your dead trees, you are dead wrong.”

Unless your dead tree is a safety or fire hazard, it is best to let it stay where it is. After a tree dies, it can remain standing for another 10 years and its skeleton becomes an ideal lookout perch for owls and other birds of prey.

A large dead tree, with its hollow cavities, can serve as a home for animals such as flying squirrels and raccoons. In addition, bats – voracious consumers of insects – can hunker down under its loose bark.

Woodpeckers are known to create new nesting sites each year and many birds are secondary tenets of homes previously owned by woodpeckers.

It is a welcomed sound to hear the staccato drumming of a woodpecker on an old hollow tree as it attempts to attract a mate or establish its territory. The dead tree is a sounding board in the communication system of woodpeckers.

When a tree dies, its contribution to the ecosystem is far from over. Lumber Jack and Lumber Jill, spare that old dead tree. It’s the wooodpeckers’ dining room, especially during the long cold winter. We should be intentional in permitting dead trees to remain standing and retain their dignity.

Let us give to them the respect they deserve and allow them to be the life of the party at the Old Oak Cafe.