Woodpeckers

[ctfjr]

So we live in a heavily wooded area. For the last several years we have been plagued by woodpeckers on the house. The work on the cedar trim & on the cedar siding. On the north side right now there are about 10 2" holes. The little ******* is living in the wall of our bedroom.
Through the years I have tried:
Shooting them with my pellet gun (moderately successful)
plastic owls
sheets of tinfoil hung down in the area
colorful windchimes
CD's hanging in a row by fishing line
Spraying with Ropel
Putting mice poison in the holes

The problem I have is the one that is here now is one of the really small ones (Downey?). Its really hard to get a shot at him with the pellet gun. As soon as I go on the deck he flies 30-40 feet into the edge of the woods. I can see him but the branches make it an impossible shot. It would be a safe shot for a 20 ga tho.
Short of the shotgun anyone have any suggestions???

fwiw I don't care if their protected

 

[Showkey]

A better pellet gun with better scope that will place pellets in a dime at distance....

http://www.pyramydair.com/a/Air_guns/Air_rifles/Precharged_pneumatic_PCP/155

30-50 feet with a PCP and the right pellet would be like shooting "birds in barrel"

 

[Kaizen]

little bastards huh? I was able to sneak up on mine and spray him with a hose before he could make a nest. there is a motion control spray you can set up that is designed for deer. not sure if you can use it for a small bird. mine hast come back this year.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Replace the trim or cover the hole(s).

 

[ctfjr]

Replace the trim or cover the hole(s).

uhhh, this has been done already - several times

 

[vwracer]

I keep a 410 semi auto shotgun next to my garage door. They have destroyed some of my window trim. Shoot the little bastards!

 

[ascott172]

Put Tabasco in the holes

 

[junkman104]

Waiting on Dan....

 

[RobE55]

I have heard a urinal cake they do not like..

Have not tried it. The internet says it works....

Rob

 

[boo coo tracks]

Get rid of food source and they will leave your house alone. That means wood putty nail holes which contain bugs. Just like lawns, kill the grub worms & gophers will move on.

 

[wnstwolf]

Oh I so feel your pain. The little bastards ate my cedar siding like it was candy. I tried everything possible including the pellet gun with scope which sort of worked. Unfortunately I had three of them and they played me like a fiddle driving me insane.

I all but gave up and tried to ignore them. One day I washed all the exterior windws while I had the ladder out, it was out so I could move the plastic owl. The next morning I hear this loud thud and I ran outside with my pellet gun hoping to catch one off guard. The friggen thing flew into the front window and killed himself. The other one must have realized one died by my great shot( not really l was lucky). The other committed Harry Carey so he was now out numbered. He never came back

Over $3,500 in siding repairs. No bugs were found behind siding they just loved that aged cedar.

Good luck the buggers will drive you nuts!

 

[TractorJeff]

LOL!
I have one that insists on standing inside the rain gutter and pounding early in the morning!
Can't shoot him as he is inside the gutter!

 

[ADSR]

I keep a 410 semi auto shotgun next to my garage door. They have destroyed some of my window trim. Shoot the little bastards!

lol! must be loud tho

 

[toplessHO]

I keep a 410 semi auto shotgun next to my garage door. They have destroyed some of my window trim. Shoot the little bastards!

this
none are a match for the #8 bird shot
and all I have is a double barrel

 

[toplessHO]

haha that just reminded me of when my youngest was about 3
came in our bedroom early Sat AM and said"Daddy,woodpecker peck peck on my house and wake me up". The damn bird had already made a 2 inch hole thru cedar and had thrown out insulation and all to roost inside the wall. No amount of decoys etc worked until Mr Mossberg came to town

 

[BillK]

fwiw I don't care if their protected

Federal Offense ?

 

[rburke65]

No help here but i do think they are protected.

 

[Red05GT]

Try putting out suet cakes. We have a cedar sided and trimmed house and have not had
a problem in 16 years next to woods. A buddy was having a bad time with the woodpeckers destroying his house siding and trim. I suggested he try the suet, they stopped working his house over. Worth a try.

 

[KANSASBOY]

you my what to be carefully . The federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects woodpeckers, swallows, owls, and robins. Any permit to lethally control these species would be issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and only in extreme situations. See WDFW's "Living with Wildlife" fact sheets for more information about these species.

 

[Showkey]

you my what to be carefully . The federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects woodpeckers, swallows, owls, and robins. Any permit to lethally control these species would be issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and only in extreme situations. See WDFW's "Living with Wildlife" fact sheets for more information about these species.

Well then.........

Ctfjr.........cancel the gun order and all other extreme measures......time to move and let the birds have your house.

Or vinyl siding or maybe hardy plank ............but then cement board might be bird abuse due to broken peckers

 

[Hephaestus29]

I didn't read the entire thread but, if you were
going to kill them anyway, you could
spray expanding foam down in the holes
and kill two birds with one stone.
IE get rid of the pest and insulate at
the same time.

 

[Jere]

Like already suggested get rid of the bugs/food source in the wood and get rid of the woodpecker. The alternative food source is a good idea too but you would have to keep feeding them.

 

[tcianci]

Years ago, I replaced the rotting pine corner boards on my house with 1x PT. The little bastards love that stuff too!

 

[NUTTSGT]

I had one start on the old T111 siding on my garage. I chased him off and filled the hole with some caulk. I was hoping that he would come back and try to bore into that same hole I just filled.

 

[MP&C]

Get some weasels....

 

[MScott]

All this talk of shooting woodpeckers reminds me of an amusing story. My Grandfather, who was in his late 70's at the time, lived alone and had a problem woodpecker that liked to peck on the corner of his house. He had made several attempts to shoot it with his .22 but had not been successful. His older sister came to visit (she was around 88 years old) so he told her about the woodpecker. Next time it started to peck, she grabbed the gun, went out and promptly shot it through the head. I don't think my Grandfather ever lived that down as he had always considered himself a decent shot. And, of course, she loved to keep reminding him.

 

[Iron-Iceberg]

Had this same problem. Once they find a spot they like, generations of family will keep coming back to the same spot.
I used a small animal trap. Like a spring loaded bear trap. Place it where they land.
I think I got 8 or 9 out of the same hole over a couple of years.
I tried all the other methods like fake owls. Hanging dead ones by the hole, shooting them etc. this will work.

 

[stealthmagic27]

I had one pounding at the gutter outside my room last summer! ******* sounded like a ******** m16! brrrap, brrraap , brraaap! I was lucky he didn't come back, could of been the airsoft gun

 

[Lippyp]

We have woodpeckers here, they do use the birdfeeders, only issue we have had with them was we put up a bee nesting box for solitary bee species which was doing great. Until the woodpecker found it and viewed it as a tasty woodpecker cafe! Practically destroyed the thing to get to the bee grubs.

 

[ctfjr]

I didn't read the entire thread but, if you were
going to kill them anyway, you could
spray expanding foam down in the holes
and kill two birds with one stone.
IE get rid of the pest and insulate at
the same time.

lol - I actually did this but not with the little critters in there. About 10 years ago I did 'trap' one in a hole (reachable from our deck) and stuffed it with a rag - bye bye birdie

 

[Falcon67]

We had problems with barn swallows here. The house we bought had been empty and they had really taken a liking to the porches and eves. Took about 6 months of fly swatter in the ***, squirt guns, water hose and nest tear down. Once they were all forced to build elsewhere, they didn't come back. Hard headed little bastages - can't read an eviction notice for squat. There's a woodpecker or two around here but they show no interest in the composite siding. There's plenty to peck on in the Mesquite trees. We don't have much of an issue with squirrels either. What does the fox say? "Chomp-nomnomnomnom". Same with the bunnies.

 

[Alan Douglas]

There are hairy, downy, and red-bellied woodpeckers here, and I'm happy to have them around if they eat bugs on my fruit trees. I even hang suet for them. Occasionally they attack the corner boards of the house but there are better nesting sites in the small patch of woods behind the property. Since that patch is downslope of the owners, and is behind their back yard, it's mostly ignored and has some standing dead trees.

 

[toplessHO]

Like already suggested get rid of the bugs/food source in the wood and get rid of the woodpecker. The alternative food source is a good idea too but you would have to keep feeding them.

maybe you dont understand that when they chisel a 2 inch hole out its not to eat,its to make a home.
No bugs just a safe and dry environment.

We also have quite a few "Woodies" the Pilated ones that look and sound like Woody woodpecker( largest of all).When those get working on a tree its like a jackhammer. Havent had any of those hit the house yet and hope they never will.

 

[sawbuck]

Waiting on Dan....too funny

too funny ...

 

[Kevin54]

Good luck on getting rid of them. My suggestion, and we have a shitload of Woodpeckers is not to kill them, but give them a food source.

I have a large Sunset Locust tree with 4 suet feeders, a tray for an ear of corn to be screwed on, plus a regular seed feeder. We have 5 or 6 of the small Woodpeckers, and two of the large redheaded Woodpeckers on it at any time. We have a cedar sided house, but have never had a problem since we have lived here. The house was built in '88 and we bought it in '93. Suet cakes can be a little expensive depending on your budget.

Now on the other hand.....At Clarence Brown Reservoir here in Ohio, they have camping areas, and they also have cabins for camping. The State had to change the siding on the cabins because of 'pecker damage. Almost every cabin had holes in it where the woodpeckers were trying to nest.

So my suggestion is to feed them, or at least give it a try, instead of killing them or having to spend the money to reside the house. Pick up some wire suet feeders, and if you don't have a tree close to the house, sink a 6x6 into the ground and hang the feeders off of. Hopefully they will feed, then nest in the woods.

At any one time, we have four on our feeders, and will actually start squawking when they are out of food, but they are not afraid of us nor the dogs or cat. they may jump up a limb or two, but will come right back down.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Get rid of food source and they will leave your house alone. That means wood putty nail holes which contain bugs. Just like lawns, kill the grub worms & gophers will move on.

This. Your trim is infested with whatever the woodpecker likes for dinner. Nest holes are a different story, of course...

Tommy

 

[Big Bad Dad]

I had one peck a 2" hole high up in the gable end side of my cedar house last year. I couldn't get rid of him, until I used a snake shot in a .38 special. That "discouraged" him, and no more problem. (Except for the ugly aluminum patch on my house)

 

[lakeroadster]

Food sources attract Bears here.... not a good thing.

 

[Theruse]

I cut a deal with the woodpeckers. I leave a suet cake out and they don't peck on my house. It has worked for 20 years. I have the large Piliated Woodpecker (as big as a hawk) and the medium sized as well as the Downy. Never any issues as long as I keep suet in the feeder. The only problem I have is the bluejays eating the suet. They are the real nuisance bird. Smart and aggressive.

 

[Kevin54]

I cut a deal with the woodpeckers. I leave a suet cake out and they don't peck on my house. It has worked for 20 years. I have the large Piliated Woodpecker (as big as a hawk) and the medium sized as well as the Downy. Never any issues as long as I keep suet in the feeder. The only problem I have is the bluejays eating the suet. They are the real nuisance bird. Smart and aggressive.

BlueJays can be very feisty bastards, but our large Redheaded Woodpecker doesn't take any **** off of them. I've watched the smaller woodpeckers actually peck at other birds to run them off the feeders. That's what we have a variety of different types of feeders on the tree. We'll have Nuthatches, Chicadees, Goldfinches, Woodpeckers, and Cardinals all on the same tree at the same time on the different feeders.

But when it comes to the suet feeders.....those seem to be owned by the 'peckers