Peckers

Millie

Get on with your life!!!
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....are eating my house!
Just scared away 2 huge woodpeckers! I heard them tapping away, and went out and they flew away. This hasn't happened before, why are they all of a sudden hot for my house? We got lotsa trees for them to peck on.
Anybody know anything about them and why they suddenly got a taste for house?

(I looked for any damage, but I guess they just got started an hour or so ago, so there's not a lot to see, and I'm not sure where exactly they flew from.)
 
They eat bugs, if you have wood siding, that may be a cause for concern
I guess I must have suddenly gotten bugs, because this house is well over 100 years old and I've never seen woodpeckers anywhere near it. The siding is some sort of non-wood probably asbestos-filled stuff. There is wood on the house at the very top near the roof and down low on the screened porch.
How do I get them to quit, though?
 
Wherever they are hanging around you can hang some aluminum pie plates or old CDs from a string. They are shiny and rotate in the wind (the pie plates make a big ding noise if they bump the house too) - that should scare them off.
 
Wherever they are hanging around you can hang some aluminum pie plates or old CDs from a string. They are shiny and rotate in the wind (the pie plates make a big ding noise if they bump the house too) - that should scare them off.
Excellent! Thanks, I appreciate that.

(This is one of those times a man around the house would come in handy....but I can probably climb a ladder and hang some shiny stuff up by myself!)
 
Much as I disagree with shooting stuff like this, sometimes it’s the only thing that works
...and since I know @Millie knows all four, this is a prime example of being aware of what’s beyond your target. :eek:

Taking a shot from a deck/window to the ground is one thing...but from the ground to a high angle could be a recipe for disaster.
 
....are eating my house!
Just scared away 2 huge woodpeckers! I heard them tapping away, and went out and they flew away. This hasn't happened before, why are they all of a sudden hot for my house? We got lotsa trees for them to peck on.
Anybody know anything about them and why they suddenly got a taste for house?

(I looked for any damage, but I guess they just got started an hour or so ago, so there's not a lot to see, and I'm not sure where exactly they flew from.)
Remember our conversation Sunday about the Carpenter Bees???? Peckers are after larve. Remember the stumps we looked at???
 
Excellent! Thanks, I appreciate that.

(This is one of those times a man around the house would come in handy....but I can probably climb a ladder and hang some shiny stuff up by myself!)
Men are good for all kinds of things.

But then again some men can’t seem to find their way around anything that requires common sense.
 
.22 rat shot does well, has zero energy after about 10-20 feet, but will kill them. We had an issue with them in the past, and my dad would use a .22 bolt action with the rat shot. Very quiet, and no fear of over travel, and the tiny pellets kinda just embed in the wood and cause no discernible damage.
 
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Sometimes they peck on houses as part of their mating ritual. Seems the females like the loudest male. They used to peck my gutters for that reason.

They probably are after bugs, but if it stops in a few weeks, it may have been a mating thing.
 
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I'm sure I'll get harassed by someone or called a greentard / pinko commie...

...but NC takes certain wildlife laws pretty seriously (sea turtles) and other related things (like sand dunes).

So it's worth noting that shooting a woodpecker, assuming you get caught, is up to a $100k fine and/or 1 year in prison.

@Millie
 
...and since I know @Millie knows all four, this is a prime example of being aware of what’s beyond your target. :eek:

Taking a shot from a deck/window to the ground is one thing...but from the ground to a high angle could be a recipe for disaster.
Air rifle.

But, I'd look into other ways first.
 
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I'm sure I'll get harassed by someone or called a greentard / pinko commie...

...but NC takes certain wildlife laws pretty seriously (sea turtles) and other related things (like sand dunes).

So it's worth noting that shooting a woodpecker, assuming you get caught, is up to a $100k fine and/or 1 year in prison.

@Millie

All woodpeckers, or just those damned red cockaded sumbitches that have 1/2 of Ft. Bragg cordoned off?
 
I'm sure I'll get harassed by someone or called a greentard / pinko commie...

...but NC takes certain wildlife laws pretty seriously (sea turtles) and other related things (like sand dunes).

So it's worth noting that shooting a woodpecker, assuming you get caught, is up to a $100k fine and/or 1 year in prison.

@Millie

When the same people that want to put you in jail for jacking a woodpecker stop killing baby humans, I’ll take them seriously.
 
I believe Millie has figured out how to make sure we all look at a thread.
Remember that one called "Unorthodox Positions"? I'm sure I wasn't the only one whose mind went to the naughty place on seeing that title!
 
.22 rat shot does well, has zero energy after about 10-20 feet, but will kill them. We had an issue with them in the past, and my dad would use a .22 bolt action with the rat shot. Very quiet, and no fear of over travel, and the tiny pellets kinda just embed in the wood and cause no discernible damage.
I've never killed an animal on purpose. I don't want to now. If they get their mating ritual done and move on, we'll all be good. I'll try scare tactics and see what happens.
 
I'm sure I'll get harassed by someone or called a greentard / pinko commie...

...but NC takes certain wildlife laws pretty seriously (sea turtles) and other related things (like sand dunes).

So it's worth noting that shooting a woodpecker, assuming you get caught, is up to a $100k fine and/or 1 year in prison.

@Millie
I certainly don't want to shoot them, maybe shoot near them with some BBs.....but that would be a last resort. I'll try the shiny moving things and the rubber snakes.
 
Well, apparently plastic owls don't work... :D


BTW, Millie, you're in rare form today. ;)
 
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