A week ago we were leaving for a hike and head a banging on the far
end of the house. Running around I saw a large red headed wood pecker
flying away from the gable part of the side of the house. The house
is a block house with wooden paneling above the stucco. The wood
pecker had damaged several areas of the wood and in one spot you could
see the foil insulation. I sprayed the whole end with bug spray
thinking he was after potential bugs in the wood. This past weekend I
heard him again and went around to find he had managed a fairly decent
hole in the paneling. We are planning a replacement on all the
paneling so not overly concerned about his handiwork except we don’t
want it to get worse.

Patched the hole from the inside with a piece of shelving board I had
sitting around. Today I checked to see what was going on only to find
he had torn right thru the shelving board and re-opened the hole.
Seeing this I’m pretty sure he’s looking for nesting spots and not
looking for bugs. So today I replaced the shelving board with a heavy
piece of 3/4" plywood and I sprayed it with oven cleaner hoping the
chemical smell might dissuade him from continuing his quest but I
doubt it.

How do you get rid of a pest like this? I am about to snag a pellet
gun from a neighbor and take care of things myself but being a nature
lover I am not really wanting take that route. Any suggestions would
be greatly appreciated.

infiniteMPG wrote:
A week ago we were leaving for a hike and head a banging on the far
end of the house. Running around I saw a large red headed wood pecker
flying away from the gable part of the side of the house. The house
is a block house with wooden paneling above the stucco. The wood
pecker had damaged several areas of the wood and in one spot you could
see the foil insulation. I sprayed the whole end with bug spray
thinking he was after potential bugs in the wood. This past weekend I
heard him again and went around to find he had managed a fairly decent
hole in the paneling. We are planning a replacement on all the
paneling so not overly concerned about his handiwork except we don’t
want it to get worse.

Patched the hole from the inside with a piece of shelving board I had
sitting around. Today I checked to see what was going on only to find
he had torn right thru the shelving board and re-opened the hole.
Seeing this I’m pretty sure he’s looking for nesting spots and not
looking for bugs. So today I replaced the shelving board with a heavy
piece of 3/4" plywood and I sprayed it with oven cleaner hoping the
chemical smell might dissuade him from continuing his quest but I
doubt it.

How do you get rid of a pest like this? I am about to snag a pellet
gun from a neighbor and take care of things myself but being a nature
lover I am not really wanting take that route. Any suggestions would
be greatly appreciated.

I dunno, but I have a question: Why would "HE" be trying to build a nest? In
the middle of winter?

Now "HE" might be trying to "mark" his territory by making woodpecker-noise,
but a nest?

"HeyBub" writes:

infiniteMPG wrote:
A week ago we were leaving for a hike and head a banging on the far
end of the house. Running around I saw a large red headed wood pecker
flying away from the gable part of the side of the house. The house
is a block house with wooden paneling above the stucco. The wood
pecker had damaged several areas of the wood and in one spot you could
see the foil insulation. I sprayed the whole end with bug spray
thinking he was after potential bugs in the wood. This past weekend I
heard him again and went around to find he had managed a fairly decent
hole in the paneling. We are planning a replacement on all the
paneling so not overly concerned about his handiwork except we don’t
want it to get worse.

Patched the hole from the inside with a piece of shelving board I had
sitting around. Today I checked to see what was going on only to find
he had torn right thru the shelving board and re-opened the hole.
Seeing this I’m pretty sure he’s looking for nesting spots and not
looking for bugs. So today I replaced the shelving board with a heavy
piece of 3/4" plywood and I sprayed it with oven cleaner hoping the
chemical smell might dissuade him from continuing his quest but I
doubt it.

How do you get rid of a pest like this? I am about to snag a pellet
gun from a neighbor and take care of things myself but being a nature
lover I am not really wanting take that route. Any suggestions would
be greatly appreciated.

I dunno, but I have a question: Why would "HE" be trying to build a nest? In
the middle of winter?

Now "HE" might be trying to "mark" his territory by making woodpecker-noise,
but a nest?

Wikepedia, woodpeckers:

A pair will work together to help build the nest, incubate the eggs
and raise their altricial young. However, in most species the male
does most of the nest excavation...

I dunno, but I have a question: Why would "HE" be trying to build a nest? In the middle of winter?

Actually I didn't get enough of a chance to check the bird's specific
gender but if "it" keeps up doing what it's doing I may get a chance
to examine it up close for as long as I want.... do woodpeckers taste
like chicken?

Just found this....
------------------------------------------------------
Woodpecker problems are becoming more common as we move further into
the suburbs. Even though woodpeckers can be a major nuisance,
woodpecker control methods must be humane as these birds are protected
under the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
------------------------------------------------------
Sounds like the guns will remain stowed away.

On Feb 17, 1:37�pm, infiniteMPG wrote:
Just found this....
------------------------------------------------------
Woodpecker problems are becoming more common as we move further into
the suburbs. Even though woodpeckers can be a major nuisance,
woodpecker control methods must be humane as these birds are protected
under the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
------------------------------------------------------
Sounds like the guns will remain stowed away.

why not put up a bird house for the wood pecker?

Dan Espen wrote:

How do you get rid of a pest like this? I am about to snag a pellet
gun from a neighbor and take care of things myself but being a
nature lover I am not really wanting take that route. Any
suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I dunno, but I have a question: Why would "HE" be trying to build a
nest? In the middle of winter?

Now "HE" might be trying to "mark" his territory by making
woodpecker-noise, but a nest?

Wikepedia, woodpeckers:

A pair will work together to help build the nest, incubate the eggs
and raise their altricial young. However, in most species the male
does most of the nest excavation...

Ah, okay. Thanks.

I was confusing Woodpeckers with Peckerwoods.

"Dan Espen" wrote in message
...
"HeyBub" writes:

infiniteMPG wrote:
A week ago we were leaving for a hike and head a banging on the far
end of the house. Running around I saw a large red headed wood pecker
flying away from the gable part of the side of the house. The house
is a block house with wooden paneling above the stucco. The wood
pecker had damaged several areas of the wood and in one spot you could
see the foil insulation. I sprayed the whole end with bug spray
thinking he was after potential bugs in the wood. This past weekend I
heard him again and went around to find he had managed a fairly decent
hole in the paneling. We are planning a replacement on all the
paneling so not overly concerned about his handiwork except we don't
want it to get worse.

Patched the hole from the inside with a piece of shelving board I had
sitting around. Today I checked to see what was going on only to find
he had torn right thru the shelving board and re-opened the hole.
Seeing this I'm pretty sure he's looking for nesting spots and not
looking for bugs. So today I replaced the shelving board with a heavy
piece of 3/4" plywood and I sprayed it with oven cleaner hoping the
chemical smell might dissuade him from continuing his quest but I
doubt it.

How do you get rid of a pest like this? I am about to snag a pellet
gun from a neighbor and take care of things myself but being a nature
lover I am not really wanting take that route. Any suggestions would
be greatly appreciated.

I dunno, but I have a question: Why would "HE" be trying to build a
nest? In
the middle of winter?

Now "HE" might be trying to "mark" his territory by making
woodpecker-noise,
but a nest?

Wikepedia, woodpeckers:

A pair will work together to help build the nest, incubate the eggs
and raise their altricial young. However, in most species the male
does most of the nest excavation...

Thanks for posting that Dan. Where I live the gnatcatchers work in couples
too. They're much like any young couple looking for a new place to
live--"oh look honey, this one has a loft and seperate bedrooms for each of
the kids...." So far they have taken my advice and NOT built a nest in my
garage.

As for the peckerwoods, I don't know but they sure keep their distance from
humans around here so that might be a clue. Scarecrow perhaps?

why not put up a bird house for the wood pecker?

Wouldn't mind that but we're talking one BIG woodpecker, not the
little tiny cute ones. This guy stands probably a foot tall and would
probably need a house the size of a microwave. When he's pecking on
the house it sounds like someone taking full swings with a claw
hammer.

On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:19:22 -0800 (PST), infiniteMPG
wrote Re Pesky Wood Pecker/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/:

Any suggestions would
be greatly appreciated.

Shoot it with a pellet gun.

On Feb 17, 3:42*pm, Caesar Romano wrote:
On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:19:22 -0800 (PST), infiniteMPG
wrote Re Pesky Wood Pecker/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/:

Any suggestions would
be greatly appreciated.

Shoot it with a pellet gun.

I found a tip on the net a gave it a try... worked great.

Went to the toy store and bought a $1 (used to be $.25) pinwheel toy
and mounted it near where the pecker was pecking.

Wind blew, pinwheel moved and after a couple encounters the woodpecker
moved on.

wrote:
Caesar Romano wrote:

Shoot it with a pellet gun.

Unfortunately it's at least a $500 fine if you get caught.

I found a tip on the net a gave it a try... worked great.

Went to the toy store and bought a $1 (used to be $.25) pinwheel toy
and mounted it near where the pecker was pecking.

Wind blew, pinwheel moved and after a couple encounters the woodpecker
moved on.

Noise is a major deterrant. You should consider putting silouttes of
hawks or falcons near where the woodpeckers are working.

Dick

"HeyBub" writes:

Dan Espen wrote:

How do you get rid of a pest like this? I am about to snag a pellet
gun from a neighbor and take care of things myself but being a
nature lover I am not really wanting take that route. Any
suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I dunno, but I have a question: Why would "HE" be trying to build a
nest? In the middle of winter?

Now "HE" might be trying to "mark" his territory by making
woodpecker-noise, but a nest?

Wikepedia, woodpeckers:

A pair will work together to help build the nest, incubate the eggs
and raise their altricial young. However, in most species the male
does most of the nest excavation...

Ah, okay. Thanks.

I was confusing Woodpeckers with Peckerwoods.

Again, Wikipedia will help you out:

Peckerwood is a slang term 19th century southern Black Americans used to describe
poor whites.

Keep holding that MSFT and that may describe you.

infiniteMPG writes:

Running around I saw a large red headed wood pecker
flying away from the gable part of the side of the house.

How do you get rid of a pest like this? I am about to snag a pellet
gun from a neighbor and take care of things myself but being a nature
lover I am not really wanting take that route. Any suggestions would
be greatly appreciated.

A pellet gun might prove to be very expensive as another poster said.

When I had this problem it was Carpenter Bees that the Woodpeckers
were after.

If they really are trying to nest, I don't think more wood or oven cleaner
will help. Maybe some wire mesh hanging down but that would be an eyesore.

With our house we solved the problem with vinyl siding and aluminum cladding.

Of course yellow jackets love the vinyl siding, but I can live with them.

I THINK I FOUND A (temporary) CURE!

Okay, this is coming from a mechanical engineer so keep that in mind.
I came home from an anniversary dinner tonight to find that the second
patch board I put up over the weekend was now bored thru with a 4"
diameter hole. So I got on a mission. First thing I did was tried to
find something to spray on the boards that might discourage them from
pecking on the wood. Thought about bug spray, overn cleaner, bleach,
but then I got an ah-ha moment. I figure they always like to bore in
old dry wood (such as the gable of my house). So I went in the garage
and found some pruning paint. Basically it's spray tar that never
really dries. So I cut fresh pieces of 3/4" heavy plywood to patch
with. I also wanted to stop them in their tracks so I cut two pieces
of 1/2" square mesh metal screen fence material the same size as the
plywood.

So off I went in the attic, pulled off the other patches and securely
screwed the new plywood with the mesh sandwiched between the plywood
and the siding, with the pruning tar facing the hole. Then I got a
second ah-ha. A few years ago I bought a real high tech dog bark
stopper to cure some neighbor dogs that barked a lot.

http://koolatrononline.stores.yahoo....bark-free.html

They are gone (and thankfully so is the house they tore up) so it was
sitting around doing nothing. I saw it had an audible setting rather
then an ultrasonic, so I put it up in the attic near the gable, facing
the siding. Set the sensitivity way up so if I banged my hand on the
siding, a loud beeeeep emmitted for about twn seconds and then
stopped. It's not loud enough to be heard by the neighbors and if I
hear it at all in the house it will be over in my kid's former
bedrooms (empty nester rebuilding his house). So hopefully if they
bang anywhere on the siding, the beep will sound and possibly scare
them off.

We're planning on redoing the paneling with something like Hardi-
Plank, maybe even this weekend, so this is a temp thing. But I'll be
more then happy to relay my results to the thread as it might help
others.

infiniteMPG wrote:
why not put up a bird house for the wood pecker?

Wouldn't mind that but we're talking one BIG woodpecker, not the
little tiny cute ones. This guy stands probably a foot tall and would
probably need a house the size of a microwave. When he's pecking on
the house it sounds like someone taking full swings with a claw
hammer.


Figure out what time of day it usually happens, and be waiting up on the
roof with a section of sheet metal, and a hammer of your own. When he
starts hammering, hammer louder. He'll realize he isn't the alpha of the
area, and move on. I had one making holes in my wooden faux chimney. One
day, sitting at this very computer, I heard him start, and snuck around
the outside of the house, and caught him in the act. I pointed right at
him, and started hollering. He flew to a nearby tree, and I followed him
and kept pointing and hollering. I followed him to 2 or 3 more trees,
all the way over into neighbor's yard, and I've never seen him again. No
more holes in the siding, either. (so far.)

aem sends....

On Feb 17, 10:28�pm, aemeijers wrote:
infiniteMPG wrote:
why not put up a bird house for the wood pecker?

Wouldn't mind that but we're talking one BIG woodpecker, not the
little tiny cute ones. �This guy stands probably a foot tall and would
probably need a house the size of a microwave. �When he's pecking on
the house it sounds like someone taking full swings with a claw
hammer.

Figure out what time of day it usually happens, and be waiting up on the
roof with a section of sheet metal, and a hammer of your own. When he
starts hammering, hammer louder. He'll realize he isn't the alpha of the
area, and move on. I had one making holes in my wooden faux chimney. One
day, sitting at this very computer, I heard him start, and snuck around
the outside of the house, and caught him in the act. I pointed right at
him, and started hollering. He flew to a nearby tree, and I followed him
and kept pointing and hollering. I followed him to 2 or 3 more trees,
all the way over into neighbor's yard, and I've never seen him again. No
more holes in the siding, either. (so far.)

aem sends....

you chimney has bugs eating it. the woodpecker was looking for food.

have the chimney inspected for bugs like termites etc

you chimney has bugs eating it. the woodpecker was looking for food. have the chimney inspected for bugs like termites etc-

Ummm, it's no where near the chimney, it's at the other end of the
house. And it's not tearing the wood apart to get to things in the
wood, it's tearing a hole in the wood to gain access inside the house
to nest. When they peck out a hole, you patch the hole and the wood
pecker tears thru patch, it's obviously not after anything in the wood
as the patch was totally different wood. Other's have the same issue
and it's a nesting issue and not a feeding issue. We;ll see this
afternoon if they're back or if they take off to seek other targets.

A little history on the origins of Woody Woodpecker from the wiki :

According to Walter Lantz's press agent, the idea for Woody came
during the producer's honeymoon with his wife, Gracie, in Sherwood
Lake, California. A noisy woodpecker outside their cabin kept the
couple awake at night, and when a heavy rain started, they learned
that the bird had bored holes in their cabin's roof.

Hmmm, seems Woody was originated from a woodpecker pecking holes in
Walter Lantz's cabin roof.... sounds familiar.

wrote:
On Feb 17, 10:28�pm, aemeijers wrote:
infiniteMPG wrote:
why not put up a bird house for the wood pecker?
Wouldn't mind that but we're talking one BIG woodpecker, not the
little tiny cute ones. �This guy stands probably a foot tall and would
probably need a house the size of a microwave. �When he's pecking on
the house it sounds like someone taking full swings with a claw
hammer.
Figure out what time of day it usually happens, and be waiting up on the
roof with a section of sheet metal, and a hammer of your own. When he
starts hammering, hammer louder. He'll realize he isn't the alpha of the
area, and move on. I had one making holes in my wooden faux chimney. One
day, sitting at this very computer, I heard him start, and snuck around
the outside of the house, and caught him in the act. I pointed right at
him, and started hollering. He flew to a nearby tree, and I followed him
and kept pointing and hollering. I followed him to 2 or 3 more trees,
all the way over into neighbor's yard, and I've never seen him again. No
more holes in the siding, either. (so far.)

aem sends....

you chimney has bugs eating it. the woodpecker was looking for food.

have the chimney inspected for bugs like termites etc
No, it doesn't have bugs- it is just cheap-ass OSB faux T1-11. The glue
is breaking down, and it is mushy like real wood that has bugs. And my
woodpeckers were clearly making nest holes and playing alpha territory
games. Besides, I've never seen termites fifteen feet up from the dirt.

Cure is to reside with Hardieplank, but not sure I want to spend that
kind of money on this place. I'll sell the place at a loss before I'll
put vinyl on it- hate that stuff with a passion.

--
aem sends...

Buy a Mylar balloon and put a long string on it and run it out a window near the place where the woodpecker is hanging out. *The movement and reflection of the balloon will keep him away.

That's a GREAT idea. The patches we did with pruning paint on the
wood seems to stop them from pecking on that spot, but they just seem
to go to a different spot. After seeing this last night I actually
hung a 4-foot long wind chime from the underside of the peak of the
roof. We're looking at replacing with Hardiplank but not soon enough.

infiniteMPG wrote:
I dunno, but I have a question: Why would "HE" be trying to build a nest? In the middle of winter?

Actually I didn't get enough of a chance to check the bird's specific
gender but if "it" keeps up doing what it's doing I may get a chance
to examine it up close for as long as I want.... do woodpeckers taste
like chicken?

All you have to do is check his pecker.

TDD