Nature and society are often at odds, and companies and groups that are incompatible with this will try to merge their products and services with the natural world (or at least the public's perception of nature). This creates the interesting feature of cell phone towers and other antennas disguised as trees, which confuses many people who pass by. One reason for disguising cell phone towers (or base stations) as trees is that it reduces the risk to birds. Currently, these large cell phone towers have caused widespread bird tragedies as birds fly into these towers with fatal effects. This phenomenon is called "tower kills" and it occurs with very high frequency. Unfortunately, these reports have not actually decreased since cell phone providers began disguising towers as trees, and there is little evidence that the disguised trees have any benefits for birds.
In reality, tree-disguised cell towers are simply built for people. Telecommunications companies began disguising these structures to shield them from public scrutiny of their appearance and the fear that might arise when they first appear. Disguised cell towers have since become a common practice. However, the main problem here is that, to many people, these cell towers do not look like trees. Instead of blending in with the tree canopy, these modified towers stand out more than regular cell towers, which are already taller than many nearby trees. In addition, they are really expensive to install, and many people believe that it simply does not work. All the additional modifications that are made to a tower to change its appearance can cost up to $150,000, four times the price of a bare tower. However, complaints about these tree-like towers do not necessarily indicate that they are poorly disguised. The molded metal and plastic parts used to hide the towers look exactly like the bark, branches, needles, or leaves of a tree, especially from a distance. Due to this, and the fact that there are many variations in their design, most people, even those who complain about them, are likely unaware of many of the disguised towers they pass by. Whether or not these cell towers disguised as trees fool anyone, they do not impede any function of the telecommunications structure. In fact, many of the products used to disguise cell towers and other structures comply with relevant International Code Council (ICC) and telecommunications standards.
