"Presenting"
Sally Snag and Friends
in "THERE'S LIFE IN DEAD TREES"

SALLY
Hi, I'm Sally Snag and this is my friend (assistant's name). We're here today to help you understand that there is life in dead, dying and hollow trees.

ASSISTANT
Many animals use standing dead trees, called 'snags," Like Sally, for shelter, or.. perching, or for making their nest.. and even as a place to find or store food. You might say snags are like an inn or motel for animals.

SALLY
Well, today I would like to tell you a little story about my friends in the forest who are guests at us "Animal Inns."

Many years ago, I fell to earth as a Douglas Fir seed. I soon sprouted and became a little seedling. As soon as I could get my roots out, I began to grow and grow. I continued to grow until I was the biggest and tallest tree in the forest. I was shade for the plants and animals living there. Birds would nest in me and perch on my branches. Squirrels would chase around me and tickle me as they scampered up and down my big trunk.

But, as the years wore on I became very old and weak. Then, one dark and stormy night, the wind blew very hard and I swayed back and forth, back and forth. Then, suddenly! A big bolt of lightning hit me! My top broke off and I lost all my needles and some of my branches. I was no longer the majestic tree I once was. Boy did I feel sorry for myself. I thought my life was really over. No more birds would come and rest on my branches, or squirrels to chase around me. But, hey! Was I wrong! Why actually, I had more friends visit me after I died, then when I was alive!

I mean it wasn't too long before insects began chewing on me. I thought they were going to
drive me crazy! But then, a friend came to visit and ate those bugs. This friend has a
beautiful redhead and makes holes or "cavities" in my wood with its beak. Can you
guess who that friend might be?

(Audience participant comes up and takes the Pileated Woodpecker from the hole in the snag. He/She holds the woodpecker while he says:)

WOODPECKER
I'm a Pileated Woodpecker. After I leave my nest in this snag, other animals will use it for raising their babies, or hiding from others.. or... as a safe place to store food. Here's another friend who nests in cavities of snags.

(ASSISTANT gives the Mountain Bluebird to another audience participant.)

MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD
I'm a Mountain Bluebird. I use cavities in snags made by woodpeckers to raise my babies and keep them safe.

SALLY
Very good! Now took who else uses cavities in snags to make their home.

(ASSISTANT hands a Wood Duck to another audience participant.)

WOOD DUCK
Quack! Hi, I'm a Wood Duck. We make our homes and raise our babies in old woodpecker holes located in snags near water.

SALLY
Besides birds, many mammals also benefit from cavities made by woodpeckers.

ASSISTANT (To audience) Do you know what mammal flies like a bird?
(Hands the Bat to another audience member.)

BAT
Hi! We bats love to hide and rest in cavities and crevices of snags and hollow trees. We leave our hiding place at night and fly around to catch bugs in the air. Then we come back and steep upside down all day.

SALLY
Another mammal, which I knew when I was a live tree, still comes to visit me during the fall and winter.

ASSISTANT (To audience) Can anyone guess who that might be?
(Squirrel puppet appears in the hole in the snag and is given to audience participant)

SQUIRREL
We squirrels use cavities in snags to store seeds and cones for the winter.

SALLY
Well, besides cavities in snags, branches are good for animals, too. I remember one sunny morning a majestic bird flew down and perched on one of my branches to eat a fish it had caught for breakfast.

ASSISTANT
(To audience) Do you know what bird represents freedom and is also our national symbol?
(Audience participant comes up and puts on the Bald Eagle puppet)

BALD EAGLE
Just like our cousin, the hawk, we use limbs on snags to perch upon when eating and resting.

SALLY
Long ago, before I died and became a snag, I had a very large limb on my side. Well, it fell off during one of those terrible storms and rain leaked into me. In a short time, a large opening formed inside of me making my insides very hollow.

ASSISTANT
Sally has a friend who sleeps inside that opening. Do you know who that could be?
(Raccoon puppet appears down by the snag's roots. Audience participant puts it on.)

RACCOON
I am a raccoon. We steep during the daytime in big openings of snags and hollow trees and hunt for food at night.

SALLY
Well, snags don't last forever. As time passes, I will become weaker and weaker and soon I won't be able to stand up anymore. Finally... I will fall over. It makes me sad. Becoming a snag was bad enough, but falling over and becoming an old, decaying log is just too much.

ASSISTANT
Now, Sally, it won't be that bad. After awhile you'll develop some cute little wrinkles as you dry out in the sun.

SALLY
I will? Oh no! Who wants a bunch of old wrinkles?

ASSISTANT
Well. they won't be real wrinkles - they're more like cracks and they'll make a great hiding place for insects and small animals. (To the audience) Do you know who another friend of Sally's is that likes to eat insects?

(A Frog appears from inside the snag. The ASSISTANT hands the frog to audience participant.)

FROG
I'm a tree frog and an amphibian We love to look for food and hide from big fish around snags which have fallen into the water.

SALLY
Yeah, but I like these good ol' days when the eagles and hawks and other birds perch on my branches. And I'll miss my furry friends.

ASSISTANT
What about your furry little friend that likes to crawl inside you for shelter? She'll still be around.

ASSISTANT
(To audience) Who do you think that furry little animal is?

(The Cottontail Rabbit appears in the hole in the snag. The ASSISTANT hands it to an audience member.)

RABBIT
Hey! I'm a Cottontail Rabbit and I love hollow logs lying on the ground as a place to hide from scary predators.

ASSISTANT
Does anyone know what "predator" means?

(Hands the Fox to an audience member)

RED FOX
Well, I'm a Red Fox and we're predators. We hunt for little animals around hollow trees and snags.

(ASSISTANT gives the Skunk to an audience member)

SALLY
(Sniffs the air) What's that I smell?

SKUNK
Hi. I'm a Striped Skunk. We look in hollow logs for food and use them for shelter, too.

SALLY
I remember one morning I was rudely awakened by someone digging down by my roots. Dirt was flying everywhere! Something was making growling and snorting noises beneath me. Who knows what animal that could've been?

(ASSISTANT gives Black Bear puppet to audience member)

BEAR
I'm a Black Bear and I sleep all winter long in the hollows and roots of standing snags and beneath fallen ones, too.

ASSISTANT
(To the audience) As time goes by, Sally will slowly sink into the ground and go back to the soil. But it's not all over yet!

SALLY
That's right! Even though I will be breaking down into soil, animals will still be depending on me.
ASSISTANT (To the audience) Who knows what little animal likes to use fallen and decayed logs?

CHIPMUNK
Hi! I'm a chipmunk and we like to burrow tunnels in fallen, decayed togs to store nuts and cones.

SALLY
Well, we could go on but I think you get the picture. Once a snag falls over and decays it returns good vitamins and minerals to the soil to help new trees and other plants to grow. Forest animals will use these plants to survive and so the cycle continues. Thank you all for giving us the time to talk to you about "Animal Inns." Now you can understand why snags are a very important part of our environment even though they are no longer live trees. "There really is life in dead trees!"

Click here to download finger puppet pictures:
(Adobe Acrobat File, 78 k)