I would leave him.
Proly not the greatest thing for the house, but proly not the worst, either.
If he has made a nest, it's proly pretty protected from the elements, so no
real leaks should occur.
I love woodpeckers. They are so neat, cute, and odd. More like a privilege
to have him.
You can always fix the hole later, when he leaves.
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"cybercat" wrote in message
.. .
A woodpecker has hammered through the wood siding on the east side of our
house--in the back--wayyy up where we need a longer ladder than we have to
reach the hole. He was made a perfect round "birdhouse" hole. It took him a
lonnngg time, like a few seasons. (He shows up usually when I am not at
home ...so I forgot about him for a long time, and what was a few bare wood
spots became a good-sized hole.) This house once had termites, so I am not
unhappy about having a woodpecker around, but not altogether happy about
the hole in the house either.
My questions:
1. What is between the siding and the drywall? Is there insulation there,
usually? (This house was build around 1960, in a suburb.) Any chance he
might come right through he drywall?
2. What are the downsides of letting him nest there? (Moisture getting in
the walls, I imagine .. there is a good sized eave/overhand, but rain is
not always completely vertical, so I see how it might be a problem). I do
like animals and am not anal about coexisting with them, but I want to be
a responsible homeowner, too. We will eventually want to unload this place
on somebody.
3. It is time to get a big ladder, as we really need to clean the gutters
ourselves, and remove some ivy that has grown up fairly high. This house
is a typical split level, and the hole is in the wall of the master
bedroom. What kind of ladder should we get, how long, for all purpose
stuff like gutter cleaning and examining woodpecker holes and such?
4. If you had a woodpecker family nesting in your house, what would you
do? What are my alternatives? We had bats living in the top of the attic
for a while, having flown in through a kind of vent up there, and we
called bat guy who put up screening while they were out so they moved on.
That was kind of different because their droppings came down on the patio.
The woodpecker nest is on a side of the house where nobody ever goes.
Which come to think of it is probably why the woodpeckers like it there.
Thanks for any suggestions.
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