How to Get Rid of Woodpeckers

Woodpeckers in cartoons are funny and cute, but in real life, not so funny. If you are a homeowner, and have had to deal with woodpecker damage, you know the destruction they can do. Woodpeckers usually choose their pecking location between February and June. This is their mating season and they need to establish their territory. The act of pecking (drumming) is their way of finding food and will generally choose an area with wood boring insects. Any wood on the home is fair game. Being awakened at unseemly hours of the morning is certainly annoying, but the damage caused by unchecked woodpeckers can be far more annoying and costly.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Plastic Owl
• Helium Balloons

1. For temporary and immediate results, a loud noise will scare them off but only for a short time. They have established their territory and will be back. Do not try to kill woodpeckers (even though you may want to wring their little necks). Certain species are endangered and protected by law. Do not use pesticides or poisons. Do not shoot at them or throw things at them.

2. Go to your local sporting goods store. Purchase a life size plastic owl. If they don't carry them they will let you know where to purchase one. Owls are natural predators of woodpeckers and the woodpeckers, being not too bright, will not distinguish between a plastic owl and the real thing.

3. Hang the plastic owl in the area that the woodpecker has established as his own. It will frighten the bird and it will search for a new location since survival is more important than food.

4. If you cannot find a plastic owl try helium balloons. Try to get some with a silvery, metal colors this will reflect the sun and look scarier. I have done this by tying the balloons to bushes below the effected area with strings long enough to carry them up to the chosen location. You need to replace the balloons every couple of days for about 2 weeks to assure the birds will not come back.

5. If you own a summer or vacation home you may want to consider putting up a couple of plastic owl as a precaution. These homes are usually uninhabited for long periods of time and can sustain considerable damage if left unchecked.

Tips & Warnings

• Repair any woodpecker damage immediately to prevent wood rot and much higher repair costs

[mkonicklaw]

on 7/20/2009 Luckily I don't have any woodpeckers to put up with but if I did I now know how to get rid of them, thanks!

[thebeaddoodler]

on 7/7/2009 Great tips for getting rid of woodpeckers. You might want to move the owl around in the area. Some pests catch on very soon that the owl isn't real if you don't.