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Discussion Forum

pesky peckers

Patrick D | Posted in General Discussion on November 1, 2009 06:16am

I live in the foothills in Colorado and have been having trouble with woodpeckers putting holes in my siding.

Aside from shooting these pesky peckers (apparently illegal), is there any tried and true remedy to deterring them? As well, aside from replacing the the siding ,is there a way to patch these holes and still have it look respectable?

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  1. Hudson Valley Carpenter | Nov 01, 2009 07:00pm | #1

     

    Woodpeckers don't peck unless there's some insect to be found and eaten.  What's living in your siding?



    Edited 11/1/2009 5:42 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter

    1. florida | Nov 01, 2009 07:42pm | #4

      I don't think that's true. I've battled woodpeckers for years and had them peck a new hole in a new piece of T 1-11 in the same spot as the old one within an hour.

      1. Hudson Valley Carpenter | Nov 01, 2009 08:03pm | #9

        had them peck a new hole in a new piece of T 1-11 in the same spot as the old one within an hour.

        Probably hired by the Home Owner's Association in an attempt to eliminate T1-11.

        Honestly, I can only speak about NE woodpeckers.  They go after insects and they sometimes open up a hole in a hollow tree, for shelter and nesting.  I've never heard of them being a nuisance like you describe.

        Edited 11/1/2009 12:05 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter

        1. migraine | Nov 02, 2009 01:25am | #13

          some of the peckers around here will peck a hole and then they will insert a nut or acorn into it.  Once larva are eating the nut/acorn they will come back and harvest their crop.

          Not sure if this is true for all types of peckers

          1. Hudson Valley Carpenter | Nov 02, 2009 01:41am | #14

            That really surprises me, birds who create their own food source.  

          2. migraine | Nov 02, 2009 02:05am | #15

            I don't know if all wood peckers do it, but haven't you ever seen acorns sticking out of siding or tree?

            Iv'e seen it before but never though anything of it.  I thought the birds were saving the nuts for winter, not raising their own food source.

            I learned this at a Boy Scout learning center in Big Bear, Ca.

          3. DanH | Nov 02, 2009 02:07am | #17

            Yep, and some will peck small holes in a tree and then come back later for the bugs that have made their homes there.
            A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity. --Jimmy Carter

    2. DanH | Nov 02, 2009 02:05am | #16

      Not entirely true. Woodpeckers, like every other animal, will do just about anything for sex. The pecking can be a mating call. To do this, woodpeckers pick out a spot that has good sounding-board qualities, such as a hollow log -- or wood siding.
      A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity. --Jimmy Carter

      1. florida | Nov 02, 2009 05:28am | #19

        You're right. They drum on the gutter pretty often and once when I left an extension ladder leaning against the house they pounded on it like a snare drum.

        1. AitchKay | Nov 02, 2009 05:45am | #21

          Yep.A-Wop-Bop-A-Loo-Bop, A-Lop-Bam-Boom!Hell, it worked for us, didn't it?Every pecker's gonna try to get some, whatever it takes!It's just the way of the world.********************But I like the monofilament idea:If something that you can't see is messing with you, it gets down to,"Bad Juju, Bwana, Peckerwood go no further!"They may be dumb, but they're not stupid, so it makes sense that that might make them steer clear.I'll pass that along to my pecker-persecuted client, even though it might cost me some future hole-plugging business.AitchKay

        2. Scott | Nov 02, 2009 07:22am | #22

          >>>They drum on the gutter pretty often and once when I left an extension ladder leaning against the house they pounded on it like a snare drum.Funny huh? Around here the hydro boys put tin caps on the end grain of power poles. I suppose it's an anti-rot measure. The Peckers have a hey-day with them. The drumming echos in the mountains.Scott.

    3. piker | Nov 02, 2009 04:36pm | #23

      We have a summer cottage on the Atlantic coast (Canada) with a 2nd story deck supported by pressure treated posts. Have been feeding birds (including a family of Downy wood peckers & a family of Hairy wood peckers) for 6 months of the year, from April/May till Oct./Nov. for 12 years now. Last Spring upon arriving, we found 2 posts with numerous holes (posts are sound, no insects) & chips everywhere. They bash away while waiting there turn at the suet feeder & early morning (while we are still in bed) before the suet is put up - take it in for the night because of racoons. They just seem to like doing it - kind of like a pup chewing your favourite shoes or a corner of the couch! The youngsters seem to be the worst as they are very tame & occassionally I have to chuck an emty beer can in their general direction.

      1. Hudson Valley Carpenter | Nov 02, 2009 06:52pm | #24

        That explains Woody Woodpecker's behavior, I suppose.   Now if you'd just stop feeding them, your cottage will probably survive. ;-)

  2. AitchKay | Nov 01, 2009 07:17pm | #2

    I've used a darker shade of stain on plugs that I've made with a hole saw.

    Bore a hole in a scrap, remove the pilot, then use the scrap to guide the hole saw. I remember it took a while to find a good combination for the plug and for the hole that receives it -- e.g. 1 5/8" to cut the plug, 1 3/8" to cut the hole (or whatever, I can't remember the sizes I used).

    Construction adhesive made up for a bit of slop, then some swirly lines with a Magic Marker faked the grain lines around the knots.

    Don't agonize over it, they disappear for everyone except you.

    And you'll hve to do a few more next year anyway.

    AitchKay

  3. JHOLE | Nov 01, 2009 07:35pm | #3

    Hang a few CDs/DVDs  around that area.

    Reflections spook them...

    They sell a mylar tape that does the same thing. May be try doyourownpestcontrol.com.

    Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City

  4. JohnCujie | Nov 01, 2009 07:45pm | #5

    My friend builds a little shelf and puts a mousetrap on it. Seems only partially effective. Also fills the holes with foam. Looks lousy.

    John

  5. florida | Nov 01, 2009 07:48pm | #6

    The short answer is no, at least no method I've ever used. Fake owls, fake snakes, lights, tin foil, hanging CD's, noise, nothing has ever kept them away. Replacing your siding with Hardiboard works but is a tough way to do it.

    1. JHOLE | Nov 01, 2009 07:51pm | #7

      I've actually had cds work on three different customer's houses...who knows...

      Worth a try.Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City

    2. Scott | Nov 01, 2009 09:11pm | #10

      >>>hanging CD'sHahaha... might as well hang the whole collection up around the eves for decoration. Seems like they aren't good for much else these days.....Scott.

  6. factotam | Nov 01, 2009 07:58pm | #8

    if your house has painted wood siding it is easy to repair with light weight fast and final spackling, but you will have to paint the entire side of the house after you spackle-also wood putty, a bondo like product works well

    as for getting rid of woody, here is a link, the link has some information about pest control and a link to a pest cotrol forum

    http://www.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of-woodpeckers.htm

  7. User avater
    Luka | Nov 01, 2009 09:57pm | #11

    Supersoaker loaded with ammonia water.

    ..It's all fun and games, until someone puts an eye out..You are always welcome at Quittintime

  8. alias | Nov 02, 2009 01:22am | #12

    Heres something i read , and i'm struggling trying to recall where . But here goes, the task of of deterring woodpeckers from an existing a wall on a house (AKA BIG DEAD TREE) .Heres the remedies, that worked. He hung one of large blue tarp over the complete wall . And the mean time he built some 4-6 large bird houses already stuffed with straw i think and wood shavings and hung them around the property. After a couple of weeks he removed the tarp , which eventually diverted the woodpeckers, he also had problems underneath soffit , he hung monofilament fishing line with sinkers attached every few inches and the things wood fly to the wall got tangled up and scared the bejesus out of things and they gave up . and went to the bird houses for easier conquest. Now the blue tarp throws me and can be unsightly , but it beats the unsightly holes. I've ran into those damn things once or twice around here (just after some novelty dropped siding i milled ,painted and installed ) . I was p.o. but a benjamin pellet gun 2-3 pumps put an end to that . But was conflicted with the likely hood of killing the sob's, but the method worked with no fatalities.

  9. alias | Nov 02, 2009 03:38am | #18

    http://www.ext.colostate.edu/Pubs/natres/06516.html

    http://www.grangecoop.com/tips/Woodpecker_Damage.pdf

  10. User avater
    IMERC | Nov 02, 2009 05:41am | #20

    help the dude reign over his territory and get him some wimmins...

    or take it all away from him... permenately..

    couse he staking territory and calling for wimmin..

     

    Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming

    WOW!!! What a Ride!


    Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!

     

    "Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"

  11. hammerelbow1 | Nov 03, 2009 03:56am | #25

    We've got a red headed one diggin a hole in the stucko under the soffit so the architec brings in these spiders he found on the internet. They are battery operated  and are sound activated. They drop down a few inches and make a noise when vibration or noise is detected. Don't know if they are working or not but haven't seen the peckers for a week now.

    Wayne

    1. ruffmike | Nov 03, 2009 04:24am | #26

      Amazing marketing. Good explanation of 'pecker behavior under Biology.

      http://birds-away.com/index.html

      We had a whole development going 'pecker mad a year or so ago. I think it was previously posted here

      http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/feb/04/1n4birds002656-plan-kill-woodpeckers-walnut-creek-/?uniontrib                            Mike

          Small wheel turn by the fire and rod, big wheel turn by the grace of god.

      1. Hudson Valley Carpenter | Nov 03, 2009 11:22am | #28

        http://birds-away.com/index.html

        It would've been cool to have one of these hanging by the front door for Halloween.

        "knock, knock".  

        1. nboucher | Nov 03, 2009 06:54pm | #29

          This time of year I'd suspect something like carpenter ants in the siding or sheathing. Male woodpeckers drumming on trees to establish territory or attract females would happen mostly in the spring.There is a western species known, appropriately, as the acorn woodpecker that excavates holes in dead trees and puts an acorn in each one, supposedly for storage, although they seem to be hard-wired for storing the foodand not so good at remembering where the heck they stored them.As for woodpeckers trapping food, the woodpeckers known as sapsuckers drill a ring of holes around a tree, wait for sap to leach into them, then feed on the insects drawn to the sap. Pretty cool.Okay, I took ornithology in college…

          1. Hudson Valley Carpenter | Nov 03, 2009 07:32pm | #30

            Fascinating adaptation.  

    2. Hudson Valley Carpenter | Nov 03, 2009 11:17am | #27

      Don't know if they are working or not but haven't seen the peckers for a week now.

      I haven't seen my pecker since I discovered the buffet at Pizza Hut.

       

  12. bunson80904 | Nov 03, 2009 08:00pm | #31

    I think you're screwed unless you kill it. Some friends of mine own a home up in the Broadmoor area in the Springs that HAD cedar clapboard siding that was getting battered for years by woodpeckers. They tried everything to get rid of them.

    Finally just gave up. When it came time to repaint the house, they just said to hell with it and covered the house with stucco instead!

    1. DanH | Nov 03, 2009 08:18pm | #32

      There may be another approach, though it does possibly involve making a hit on at least one bird. Some years ago the neighborhood was having trouble with rabbits so our next-door neighbor stuck a live trap in our flower garden (with our permission) adjacent to his property. He then forgot about it.We didn't have any trouble at all with rabbits for the next 18 months or so, until one day when we were clearing out the overgrown bushes in the back of the garden we discovered the trap. Containing a rather dessicated rabbit.
      A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity. --Jimmy Carter

  13. doorboy | Nov 03, 2009 08:21pm | #33

    Why not take the pacifist approach and put out some woodpecker feeders? They like raw peanuts.
    As far as the CD's method goes--they HATE overcommercialized Nashville country.

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