Tree Fungi

This is a close up photo of a fungi located inside the middle of a tree trunk (dead asian maple tree of sort) that I have let disintegrate on its own, finally lost the one and only branch left last month, mother nature helped it come to the ground, still the truck stands, and there are young trees growing around the mother tree trunk - the photo was taken June 2011, odd looking, some of the trees in my neighborhood are 100 years old. I do not know exactly how old the dead tree is that has this fungi that looks like a living creature to me.