when woody goes rogue

One of my favorite sounds of spring is the sound of woodpeckers drumming on dead trees. They drum to attract a mate, to locate insects in the dead tree, and to excavate a hole for a nesting cavity. 
​

Unfortunately, occasionally the "tree" they choose is the siding on your home!

If they are just drumming to attract a mate, it can be annoying, especially if you have metal siding, but the damage is fairly minor. If, however, they are excavating a nest cavity, they can do significant damage to your siding. 
​

Woodpeckers present a special problem for wildlife management. The are Federally protected and it is a crime to touch them, or their eggs or young. Therefore, the first thing we have to do is inspect the inside of the nest with a snake camera to make sure that there aren't any eggs or young. If there are, it's hands off until the young have flown! 

If the nest is empty, the next step is to fill the cavity with a special expanding foam that has a chemical irritant in it that deters animals from coming back. 
​

Then a metal plate is installed that is color matched to the house, and prevents the woodpeckers from doing more damage in that immediate area. 
​

The metal plate is held in place with a professional construction grade adhesive and screwed into place. 
​

A wind blown reflective frightening device is placed in front of the hole after it is repaired. It frightens the woodpeckers and prevents them from creating another hole in the immediate area. 
​

Something about the reflective surface moving in the wind frightens the woodpeckers and convinces them to look elsewhere for a nesting site. 

In general, I don't like woodpecker jobs. I like to be able to assure the customer that the problem is solved once and for all. With woodpeckers, all I can guarantee is that they will not reenter at the same location and that they will create another cavity somewhere. Hopefully they will choose a dead tree where they don't cause any damage and we can all listen to them drumming, and enjoy the sound. 

So far, we are 100% successful at eliminating woodpecker problems. Here's to keeping it that way! 

If you have a problem with woodpeckers, call Predator Impact at (918) 397-4091 for a free, no obligation inspection and to discuss options to resolve your woodpecker issues! 

Mark Runnels
Predator Impact, LLC
(918) 397-4091