Dark against the autumn sky, its branches broken and twisted, with mysterious black holes and cracks in its bark, a dead tree might seem spooky. But to many animals, it’s home.

Bats, screech owls, woodpeckers, bluebirds, squirrels and many other animals live in holes in dead or living trees, or overwinter nestled deep in the furrows of their bark. “It’s almost like an apartment building for wildlife,” said Spencer Campbell, Plant Clinic manager at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle.

Holes, or cavities, occur in living trees where the trunk or branches have cracked, or where decay has created a soft spot that a woodpecker or other animals can excavate and enlarge. Once a tree has died, its gradual deterioration creates many more cavities, and expands the opportunities for animal apartment hunt

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