Woodpeckers

[knoppers]

anyone know how to keep woodpeckers off my house? I have cedar trim, and the woodpeckers have really took a liking to it this winter. I don't want to have to start shooting them, but I will do what I have to. I had one pileated this winter also, and the 1 minute it was on my house, it was very bad.

[leech~~]

23 minutes ago, knoppers said:

anyone know how to keep woodpeckers off my house? I have cedar trim, and the woodpeckers have really took a liking to it this winter. I don't want to have to start shooting them, but I will do what I have to. I had one pileated this winter also, and the 1 minute it was on my house, it was very bad.

 

You more then likely have bugs in or under the wood they are trying to get at. My buddy pulled the wood siding off his house to put on new and found a bezillion Lady Bugs all plied up under it. May be there something you can spray on it?

[RebelSS]

Good luck. Tough stopping them once they do that. I always heard that about bugs, too, but there's a lot of 'peckers around here, (BIRDS!) and they love hammering on my deck posts and rails, my dark brown metal GUTTERS  ($#@!) and everything in between. I just don't hold to the bug theory. They MAY be looking for them, but not necessarily because there are any there...I think they're just accustomed to doing it, because that's what they do. They're WOODpeckers! They get territorial, so shoo them away as soon as you see them, or they then seem to "stake out" a spot. That's just what I've noticed over many years here.And, they seem to love cedar siding. They just about destroyed my Mom's new house with it on....good luck!

[knoppers]

I am thinking of getting all new siding this spring since I need new windows, it will not be any kind of wood that's for sure. the problem with one pecker, is it is hitting my facia above my bedroom every day, almost on the clock, and I work nights so it wakes me up every day.

[RebelSS]

There's only one cure for that...really. The ol' Daisy....

 

Hard enough to sleep days. I hated those 12 hr night shifts.  $#@!

 

Knew some guys that put out those plastic owls. Hammered the eyes out of it.  

[knoppers]

I have the high powered air rifle that has taken out problem red squirres, I may have to sit out one morning and wait for it.

[eyeguy 54]

would be sad to zap a piliated. my favorite bird. but a guys gotta do what a guys gotta do. 

[RebelSS]

1 minute ago, eyeguy 54 said:

would be sad to zap a piliated. my favorite bird. but a guys gotta do what a guys gotta do. 

 

Very true. Had one here the other day whacking away. I love 'em. (most of the time) But, my Mom wouldn't shoo them away, and they ruined an entire side of her house.

[knoppers]

the piliated only showed up one day, and has not returned. its the downy that has been giving me problems.

funny though, I live in the city limits of big lake, and had heard 22 rifle shots not long after I seen the piliated, I am guessing it was giving someone else problems. I have had two trees killed by piliated woodpeckers at my cabin in aitkin.

 

Edited January 8, 2017 by knoppers

[bobbymalone]

1 hour ago, knoppers said:

 I have had two trees killed by piliated woodpeckers at my cabin in aitkin.

Probably already dying.

 

Edited January 8, 2017 by bobbymalone

[knoppers]

no, one of the trees was very heathy, maple tree.

[delcecchi]

In Rochester, the public utilities guys have had to wrap a bunch of the wood power poles with metal cloth to protect them from pileated woodpeckers.  

Edited January 8, 2017 by delcecchi

[eyeguy 54]

downys get zapped here. wifey says, shoot them!. lol  they are the only ones I have seen peck my cedar over the 25 years we have been here. 

[RebelSS]

The downy's were at it daily on my deck posts this summer...no bugs here! Deck and rails treated every year. Maybe they were getting high off the fumes. 

[delcecchi]

At some times of year they beat on stuff to mark territory.   No bugs in my rain gutters but they still peck them sometimes.   

[Ufatz]

Man I hate to see woodpeckers being shot,  especially the big Pileated, but I guess  I understand the frustration. We have three pairs of the big beasts around our place and oddly enough they do not much bother our cabin and it is CEDAR logs. They will, however, occasionally take a whack at one of the supporting deck posts and they-and the other species-like to peck hell out of a shutter now and then. We have two sizes of Ladder-backs, the Red headed and an assortment of other little huntin' n' peckin' birds but they don't cause much trouble.

I'm betting there is something out there a person can use to treat wood that will make it less palatable to the birds.

[leech~~]

2 hours ago, delcecchi said:

At some times of year they beat on stuff to mark territory.   No bugs in my rain gutters but they still peck them sometimes.   

 

It's in the spring during mating. They use to band away on our cabin metal stove pipe.

[RebelSS]

2 minutes ago, leech~~ said:

 

It's in the spring during mating. They use to band away on our cabin metal stove pipe.

 

 

Maybe they were rappin' and groovin', baby! ....

[Mike89]

they have use my satellite TV dish the last few years

[delcecchi]

3 hours ago, Mike89 said:

they have use my satellite TV dish the last few years

 

Looking for porn? 

[papadarv]

Get a vintage Victory Rat Trap, not mouse, the big rat one. Glue some birdseed to the trigger. Attach it to the affected area. Very effective 24 hour watch dog. Just check it once in a while.

[delcecchi]

And don't let anyone see you....

[Mike89]

13 hours ago, delcecchi said:

 

Looking for porn? 

now that's an interesting question!!

[RebelSS]

13 hours ago, delcecchi said:

 

Looking for porn? 

 

Ya...the Pink Panther meets the Red Pecker.....

[delcecchi]

1 hour ago, RebelSS said:

 

Ya...the Pink Panther meets the Red Pecker.....

I figured they weren't interested in sports or politics.