'Bad Pecker'

[BDH]

I was talking with Mrs BDH on the phone one evening from the Tulsa mudbowl, when she mentioned that she had been hearing this 'rapid pounding noise' outside that she could not identify. I immediately thought WOODPECKER, and sure enough we now have three nice round holes between an inch and a half and two and one half inches drilled through our cedar siding, the insulation board, the backing board, and into the insulation. Of course my first thought was SHOTGUN, but not only are they protected, firing a shotgun off in my subdivision, would be a little tough to be discreet with. I've asked lots of people, but so far mostly got some interesting but ineffective sounding home remedies, and a laugh with a hardy "good luck"....

Anyone out there have to deal with this issue before?

[BritinUSA]

Here's one option;

Pest Control Products

[MichiganShootist]

We had a ton of problems with them (Our siding on an 85 year old home is all cedar and hemlock).

To my knowledge-----The only reason they will "hammer" on a house is to:

1. get at bugs

2. signal their location to other peckers (that's real loud when they attack the aluminum down spouts).

If they have drilled holes ... It's probably item one.

Use wasp/hornet spray on the holes and they probably won't hit the same spot again. You might want to apply a liberal dose of bug spray and if possible put off a bug bomb in your attic & basement or crawl space. You might have a problem such as carpenter ants (that's what attracted them to our home)... We got rid of the ants and that got rid of the "peckers". Apparently they can hear the bugs and drill to get at them like they would in a hollow tree.

BTW-- Glad to see that the post wasn't about a personal medical problem

Edited September 26, 2008 by MichiganShootist

[Viggen]

Great if wasp/hornet spray works. A pellet rifle can also provide permanent discouragement to a woodpecker.- beats a shotgun regarding noise and over penetration.

[HSMITH]

Charge up a good sized capacitor and rig it up to cook 'em. You can take apart one of the bug zapper lights and make a pretty mean electrocution mat out of it too.

[Matt Cheely]

Charge up a good sized capacitor and rig it up to cook 'em. You can take apart one of the bug zapper lights and make a pretty mean electrocution mat out of it too.

Ooooo, I like the sounds of that

[el pres]

New Gamo supersonic pellet gun "with silencer" !!!

http://www.cabelas.com/link-12/product/0050097228819a.shtml

[JimmyZip]

I must say that I was one hell of a bird killer/rat killer in my youth. I ran a .177 Beeman R1. IIRC, it was at or near 1000fps with a silver jet pellet. I ran siver bears and could hit a sacharrine tablet at 30 feet. (with B&L scope that is)

You would be suprised at the possibilities as far as sniping them. Set ups and hides can keep neighbors from figuring out what is really going on. Never got a complaint. If PETA knew what my histories were, I would be on a poster somewhere.

[GentlemanJim]

Shotgun pellets do tear up the eaves a little

but the noise went away ...and no new holes

Jim

[Joe4d]

I tend to agree, If they are drilling holes seems like you may have a bigger problem than woodpeckers, might want to check for termites or carpententer ants or some other critters the woodpeckers are trying to eat.

[chp5]

Shotgun pellets do tear up the eaves a little

but the noise went away ...and no new holes

Just use a .410 and it won't be that bad

[GentlemanJim]

I tend to agree, If they are drilling holes seems like you may have a bigger problem than woodpeckers, might want to check for termites or carpententer ants or some other critters the woodpeckers are trying to eat.

Not a bug problem....They drill the holes, then move in and live there

Or at least they used to

Jim

[Bill Nesbitt]

We have had a problem with carpenter bees in our log cabin. http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2074.html They drill holes to live in and then woodpeckers make the holes bigger to eat the bees. We had a pest control outfit spray the house and that helped a lot. We caulk the old holes and watch for any new ones. I sneak out with my airsoft when I hear a woodpecker. Haven't hit one yet though.

[ChrisStock]

Not a bad 'pecker issue, but a naughty male cardinal visits us every few months, perches on the car door and proceeds to shizzle all over the door and peck the crap out of the side mirrors. We have already replaced the mirrors once after we thought he was gone, but he came back 6 weeks later and tore up the driver's side mirror again. We haven't replaced it again, but I can definitely empathize.

[lynn jones]

my father in-law had the same problem at his lake house. his cousin, a retired exterminator, told him to get a couple of rat traps, mouse traps screw them to the side of the house, and put a little piece of aluminum foil on the trigger. problem solved.

lynn

[BDH]

As always, thanks for all the input. I had not even thought about them trying to get at some bugs, but no doubt that is the place to start. We have a quarterly pest control service that comes out so I asked them to come out and see what they see. Meanwhile, they started whacking on my neighbors house, so maybe they have more tasty bugs.

I also ran into the neighbor on the other side of me (who is not at all gun friendly), and asked her if the peckers had started on her house yet? She said no, and didn't even know we were having a problem. Then she asked me 'what do you do to get rid of them?' I had to reply 'well my first thought was a shotgun but it's not very discreet' just to see what her reaction would be. Much to my surprise she replied 'since every house in our neighborhood is cedar sided, I doubt that anyone would even hear it. I know I wouldn't!' Apparently, after living next door for 11 years, and me not running around the neighborhood shooting things up, she finally realizes that there is no reason to be concerned as most gun owners are responsible. A small victory... (now if I can just talk the old man into letting me take their 13 year old to the range on afternoon)