DPW halts tree removal after finding screech owl inside

Cambridge Department of Public Works crews were taken aback when on a routine job to remove an unsafe tree, they discovered a screech owl living inside, our news partners at Wicked Local reported.

Workers had already removed branches from the 40-year-old tree before their work was interrupted two weeks ago by the owl. Unfazed by traffic and the curious passersby, the owl has become a celebrity at the corner of Huron Avenue and Larchwood Drive.

A photo of the white and brown owl posted on the DPWS Facebook page on March 16 has kept social media users mesmerized, and it has received 217 likes and 49 shares.

There is life in dead trees, Patrick L. Barton wrote on the DPWs Facebook page. Bonnie Peters asked on Facebook if DPW could leave the tree up because owls use the same nesting trees year after year. However, City Arborist David Lefcourt said that the Norway Maple tree has to be removed for safety reasons and a new tree will be planted.

I thought it was pretty cool just to see that an owl had taken a presence in the trunk there, said Lefcourt, who drove to Huron Avenue the day he heard about the owl. I wanted to go and see it for myself.

Lefcourt said it is common for crews to hold off doing work on trees until animals have left, but he said this was the first time an owl has been spotted. In the past, squirrels, raccoons, and other birds have halted work, he said.

Jean Rogers, chief ranger at the Water Department Fresh Pond Reservation, on the other hand, said that screech owl sightings are quite common in Cambridge.

Weve had screech owls around the neighborhood for a long time, Rogers said.

Weve had a screech owl on and off in a tree on Huron Avenue for six years.

According to Rogers, Cambridge is home to several types of owls who have been nesting in the city for many years.

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DPW halts tree removal after finding screech owl inside