I've got a woodpecker problem (SFW)

The Problem:

I woke up this morning, my only morning to sleep in, to the sound of rapid-fire banging on the the side of my house. I grudgingly got out of bed and went over and banged on the wall, and it stopped. Sweet! Well, I climbed back into bed and, not a minute later, it began again. Fuck! So, now that I was awake, I put on my clothes and went outside to investigate. Sure enough, a woodpecker has been using my siding as a buffet line, and from the looks of it, he has been doing it for some time. I noticed that there was a series of small holes in two areas in the trim, just under the roof. How my girlfriend, who works nights, and is in the bedroom all day, has not heard this occuring puzzles me, but I guess that is beside the point. So my question is, how do I get rid of this unwanted guest?

Now before you answer, let me provide some further background:

1. I live in suburban CT (yea, I know, boo!), and I live a wood, cape style house.
2. The cops have been called on me before for shooting a raccoon off a garbage can in the backyard with a shotgun, so using it in this situation is probably not a good option. Plus, I can't, obviously, shoot at the house, and I would rather not kill the thing anyway.
3. The guys at the agri-hardware store said to tie tin pans and mirrors to the side of my house; is this a good idea?
4. Is this an indicator of a bigger problem? We have our house annually inspected for termites, and none have been found, but I did notice some of the wood needs replacing. It just has to wait until spring.

Has anybody dealt with this type of bird problem before? Solutions?

Woodpeckers appear for a reason. There is food in the wood of your house. Typically, they are looking for wood borers. Look like bumble bees, but eat into wood with small pencil sized tunnels and leave larva.

Check with your pest control company.

Ken

rats!

i was gonna say "shoot it"

What you need is a flying cat.

http://images.elfwood.com/art/c/l/cl...with_wings.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Binky

I've got a woodpecker problem

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So does Pinocchio.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TNKen

Woodpeckers appear for a reason. There is food in the wood of your house. Typically, they are looking for wood borers. Look like bumble bees, but eat into wood with small pencil sized tunnels and leave larva.

Check with your pest control company.

Ken

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Ken's talking about Carpenter Bees I think, I hate those bastards with a passion. Yeah the woodpecker is most likely there because there's bugs/larvae in your wood, if so you need to get rid of the food to get rid of the bird.

There are other reasons they peck though: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ht=woodpeckers

Thanks Ice, I should have searched first. Chalk it up to a lack of sleep...

A neighbor had woodpecker problems last year, she hung a couple of sparkle type streamers from the house and that seemed to work.

EDIT: Something like this: http://www.giantpartystore.com/Strea...m/iCatID/18361

9News Denver did a story about this a while back. One guy found this sound activated mechanical spider. It was rather large, and the pecking sound activated it to drop down quickly on a line and then it climbed back up. He hung it from the overhang of his roof. He said it worked.

edit: found it...

http://http://www.9news.com/rss/arti...?storyid=75378

Quote:

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"It works great," said Kristian Blew, a homeowner in Arapahoe County. He purchased seven of the devices for about $15 apiece. "It startles the neighbors, but it also startles the woodpeckers. I would say it's the most successful thing I've tried."

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http://www.9news.com/assetpool/image...ackspider2.jpg

Don't sweat it, it will most likely drown in boiling sea water this summer when Global Warmings comes back.

Lots of good info so far... Just a comment or two.

Since you've mentioned some bad wood, keep carpenter ants in mind. Termites will eat good wood, carpenter ants go after wood as it starts to rot from water exposure... May be other pests in other parts of the country (bees as mentioned, etc). When you get to replacing any wood, obviously use a green treated version for the new stuff.

ALSO, keep in mind it can be a bug that is just crawling into cracks or crevices in the siding/trim. Do you have that invasion of (fake) lady bugs on the warm sunny siding during the later fall days where you live? I have cedar shingle siding in the gable ends of my brick house, and as the beetle invasion has progressed here (fake lady bugs + some other kind of beetle), my siding has been getting hit too. The holes are in line with the space between shingles for the row below in my case. I think I'll have to find some deterrent myself.

Fake owl

http://www.provenrepellents.com/products.php?pid=38

something like one of these.

Here's my guy. Flickers gone. Makes for handy snow guage in winter.
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...radley/owl.jpg

"SFW"

!
Hilarious thread title!

Thanks everyone,

The following steps are "in process":

1. Pest control has been called.
2. Looks like wood will be replaced.
3. Until such time that it is, mirrors have been placed over holes in wood. I was fortunate to have some small emergency signal/camp mirrors lying around. The fit nicely with a couple of thumb tacks to hold them.

What about suet feeders?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Binky

Thanks everyone,

The following steps are "in process":

1. Pest control has been called.
2. Looks like wood will be replaced.
3. Until such time that it is, mirrors have been placed over holes in wood. I was fortunate to have some small emergency signal/camp mirrors lying around. The fit nicely with a couple of thumb tacks to hold them.

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No owls? They work surprisingly well.

I get woodpeckers every year. If I buy an owl and put it up on the roof (where they perch and hammer on a stove pipe) will I need to move it, or can I just glue it down and expect it to do anything?

How can it do anything if it's glued down?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rideski

I get woodpeckers every year. If I buy an owl and put it up on the roof (where they perch and hammer on a stove pipe) will I need to move it, or can I just glue it down and expect it to do anything?

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Your supposed to move it around for max effect, but you can just stick it there, but it will lose is effect over time.

Ice brings up a great point though. you need to use velcro so that it can be effective.