Snags provide important homes for many animals. Soon afer a tree dies, termites and carpenter ants invade.
Woodpeckers go to work on the tree, looking for insects.
Soon, cavity nesters move in. Flammulated owls, nuthatches, flickers, and mountain bluebirds find protection and nesting sites in the tree. Hawks and turkey vultures often perch in the bare branches, looking for food. Even mammals, including raccoons, will den in the snag in the winter. As the tree decays, it drops its branches.