Woodpecker Problems
“No Mr. Woodpecker, you may not live in the side of my house this winter. ”
I have never felt ill will towards a bird until today. I’ll admit, I am not eligible for the Audubon Society, but I know a little bit about birds because my parents and and grandparents have always loved them. I don’t dislike them, I just don’t have time to watch them out the window and haven’t found the interest to feed them and draw them to my yard and after today, I’m shooing them away! Well, at least the darn woodpecker!
I saw him for the first time a couple of weeks ago in the backyard. He was very pretty actually as I had never seen one in real life before. Little did I know, that was a good thing. So, a week later I was sitting at my kitchen table (ahem, card table), with my social media guru, Summer, and I heard “tap, tap, tap…,” I looked at her and said what is that noise? She immediately said, “I bet it’s a woodpecker! We used to have one at my college house.” I thought, hmmm, I’ll go see what he is up to later.
The next day I went to look at the side of the house and sure enough, he was working on a hole. I hoped he would magically go away. And what the heck was I supposed to do? I’m a busy lady. How much damage can a bird possibly do? The answer is, A LOT IN VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME!
So, on a nice Sunday afternoon in Nebraska instead of spending time raking leaves and painting the outside of my garage door, I had to deal with a darn woodpecker! I started out my morning allowing myself to sleep in until 8 am which is a rarity, enjoying my coffee and planning my new pantry design and there it was…tap, tap, tap. Over and over again. Mind you, it’s 36 degrees, I’m in my jammies and definitely don’t have my “winter skin” on yet and I’m now outside with a broom like a crazy lady yelling at the woodpecker to go away. He looks at me and flies off. That works for a whole half hour and he was back. At this point I was showered and already getting to work on house projects and I went and yelled at him again. Did I really think this strategy was going to work? No, but he was just not on my list to deal with today.
About 3 pm this afternoon while I was outside painting my garage door, my kind neighbor said, “Jennifer, did you see that giant whole the woodpecker is making in the side of your house?” I replied, “Yes, but I’m trying to be in denial and paint my garage door.” She kindly said, “I think you better call somebody tomorrow.” I said thank you, rolled my eyes at the stupid woodpecker, put my paint brush down and headed in the house to Google everything I need to know about eradicating woodpeckers. Cliff’s Notes Version: Woodpeckers are pests, they keep coming back to the same spots, do monumental damage and are difficult to get rid of. Suggestions include trying dangling plastic eyes, mirrors, wind chimes, plastic owls and sprays.
I didn’t need to call anyone as I knew I could fix the hole as long as I had a ladder tall enough to reach it. So up I climbed and got to work. See below for supplies and step to repair damage on wood siding from woodpeckers and my best researched solution to keep them away!
Investment
$24 (Flock Free Spray)
30 Minutes (repair, paint, spray)
Supplies*
Cardboard box or paper plate
Ladder if necessary
Your exterior house paint and brush
Steps
Knock off any lose wood from damaged space and sand if in highly visible location.
Mix Bondo by following instructions. Helpful video here. This stuff is amazing, but you’ve got a short amount of time to work before it starts to dry, so mix and go! It will not come off of anything, so use a disposable plate and putty knife. If you accidentally get some on your hands, straight powered tide or dishwashing power detergent works well to get it off.
Liberally apply to damaged area and scrape off excess like you were patching a drywall hole. Work quickly. Let dry 15-30 minutes. Sand if necessary (hopefully not because the stuff is not exactly sand-friendly).
Paint over damaged area. Let dry 2 hours.
Mix Flock Free (2 oz to 1 gal) and liberally spray area and surrounding area where woodpecker is doing damage. Reapply after rain or every few weeks to keep away. Flock Free is 100% natural and says it will not harm the birds; in reviewing the ingredient list I concur. Good luck keeping him away from your house and hope he will go find a tree to live in before winter!
Enjoy the Project
Playlist | Hot Country by Spotify
Wine | None: 16’ ladders and alcohol don’t go together.
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