10865 Woodpeckers

Are you sure it is a woodpecker causing the damage? When we saw damage like that I googled it and found that in the US they were accusing squirrels of causing the damage. But we never saw the culprit.

Unfortunately we have been experiencing the same problem. Again unfortunately we are not going to be able to help you much though it help a little to know you are not alone.

We have (new) chestnut shutters on our house. All was well for a year or so but about this time last year we got a call from our neighbours to say that woodpeckers had damaged a number of our shutters. It was definitely wood peckers as our neighbours heard and saw them. We got our shutters repaired by our carpenter who was annoyed as us at the damage to what he viewed as his shutters (he had made them) and then asked for advice as to what to do. However no-one we have talked to over the last year seems to have come across this problem and talking to 20 different people just gave 20 different opinions and suggestions.

Our first attempt at solving the problem was to make covers for the shutters from the black plastic netting (shade cover) that you can find for sale in ferramente. This seemed to work until this September when we returned to the house to find that the wretched things had come back and pecked through the netting. We had to get the shutters repaired again, put up Predator baloons and arranged with our local blacksmith to make metal cages to put over the shutters. This he has done but not until 2 days after we left to come back to the UK. The day after we left the woodpeckers pecked another hole in another shutter! From that we deduce that the Predator balloons are no good.

We were back at the house last week and saw the metal cages. They should work and are not too difficult to mount and dismount. They dont look too bad either - unfortunately we dont have photos at the moment.

However, this has all caused a lot of cost - repairing shutters and and buying metal cages etc., and whilst we are confident we have now protected the shutters we still worry that they will have a go at our doors next!! We have had lots of suggestions but no surefire solutions - apart from metal doors and shutters!!!!! If anybody has some we also would welcome them.

(Last week we heard that another house in our area (Arezzo) had been attacked by woodpeckers. Again the locals were shaking their heads - maybe the woodpeckers' habits are changing!

I don't have any personal recommendations, but I put woodpecker+deterrent into google and came up with a load of hits.

This one appeals to me - I suggest you make sure your speakers are turned on before you click the link, to get the full multimedial experience!!

[url=http://www.birds-away.com/]Woodpecker Deterrent - Birds-Away Attack Spider®[/url]

This is part of a review of this gizmo: "Along comes "Birds-Away Attack Spider," an animated toy spider [B]about the size of a dinner plate[/B]. When it hears the sound of a woodpecker's tapping, it goes into action. It drops about 18 inches down a string, makes rattling noises and vibrates. The company claims it's selling 2,000 spiders a week.

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

A further product review which truly makes you think....

"These spiders work great. They have other applications as well. Thanks again for your prompt service and a wonderful product."

Prize on offer for the abovementioned "other applications" (Keep it clean ... as TH would say).

Apart from moving to a brick house........
I know that outside bars etc sometimes use fishing line, It seems that the birds see the flash of the line and cant work out what it is,,,,,,,,,,I friend used it to deter birds from her balcony....

Try smearing the shutters with mustard.

[I know that even when I'm feeling really peckish, I won't touch anything with mustard on].

.

[quote=alan h;101704]Try smearing the shutters with mustard.

[I know that even when I'm feeling really peckish, I won't touch anything with mustard on].

.[/quote]

Hi Alan
Would that be , French,English or Irish mustard ?

[quote=ianthy;101628][SIZE=3]We have an issue with a Woodpecker - so far it has made 6 holes in the exterior of our house. Does anyone have any ideas of how to stop or deter Woodpeckers?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Thks[/SIZE][/quote]

We have had the same problem with our shutters and now when we are not at the house we pin either plastic bags or longs strips of plastic to the shutters. the idea being when the bag/plastic is flapping about it frightens off the birds. Doesn't look very attractive but it works - at least it has up to now, touch wood!
It's not very nice turning up and opening the shutters to a pile of s**t on the window sill. :no: I wonder if they are trying to keep warm?

Lorraine

[quote=Lorraine;101706]We have had the same problem with our shutters and now when we are not at the house we pin either plastic bags or longs strips of plastic to the shutters. the idea being when the bag/plastic is flapping about it frightens off the birds. Doesn't look very attractive but it works - at least it has up to now, touch wood!
It's not very nice turning up and opening the shutters to a pile of s**t on the window sill. :no: I wonder if they are trying to keep warm?

Lorraine[/quote]

We tried the bags and ribbons route also. It didnt work for us. Glad it is for you - its a much cheaper solution!!

We also have had Chestnut shutters made for our house.They are designed to reflect the traditional style of doors on older Abruzzese rural houses so they have horizontal planks of 2 inch thick chestnut mounted onto a frame if you see what I mean!
We painted ours a grey/green colour using Max Meyer water based acrylic paint and although we have large numbers of all types of woodpeckers in our garden none have been anywhere near the shutters.They have been up for a year now.Are yours plain wood? Possibly as ours are painted we've fooled them into beliving they are not wood.

Our carpentar was horrified when we painted them but now I'm glad we did!!

[quote=myabruzzohome;101712]We also have had Chestnut shutters made for our house.They are designed to reflect the traditional style of doors on older Abruzzese rural houses so they have horizontal planks of 2 inch thick chestnut mounted onto a frame if you see what I mean!
We painted ours a grey/green colour using Max Meyer water based acrylic paint and although we have large numbers of all types of woodpeckers in our garden none have been anywhere near the shutters.They have been up for a year now.Are yours plain wood? Possibly as ours are painted we've fooled them into beliving they are not wood.

Our carpentar was horrified when we painted them but now I'm glad we did!![/quote]

Our shutters are of the slatted variety. We did think about painting them green to get around the problem but didnt go down that road because it would take a lot of time and work and we have no idea whether it would be successful or not. If the birds continued to attack the shutters even though they were green we would have wasted our time and money. Also green shutters are not the norm where we are.

Maybe we should consider this further but it is a difficult call.

Although it pains me I attach a couple of pictures to show what woodpecker damage looks like.

I should contact il cacciatore and his hunting friends......8o)

or do it yourself and look for woodpecker recipes.

Yes upsetting. (Just like my plague of clothes moths currently)

I know it's upsetting for you - to have spent a fortune only for the shutters to be pecked to death, but I think they look great with a few holes here and there - more natural - aged - authentic - not so pristine and crisp.
Do it Italian style - stop fretting. :smile:

Would love to but a) woodpeckers are protected and even the cacciatori arent supposed to shoot them. We are advised that we can approach the commune for special permission to have a go at them (which should be forthcoming) but b) there are so many of them in our woods that you could never get them all anyway.

[quote=juliancoll;101757]I know it's upsetting for you - to have spent a fortune only for the shutters to be pecked to death, but I think they look great with a few holes here and there - more natural - aged - authentic - not so pristine and crisp.
Do it Italian style - stop fretting. :smile:[/quote]

'....they look great with a few holes here and there.....'!!!!! Sorry but the holes are bigger than tennis balls and it isnt just holes. They have done considerable damage to the frames and slats of many of the shutters as well ( they peck along the edges of them) and where they have got into the space between the shutter and the window they have had a go at the window frames as well. If we had done nothing I doubt that we would have much by way of shutters or windows left by now.

1

Persuade them with this - a good old blast from the past for one or two members here! :winki:

[ame=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eqIQE4du6co&feature=related]YouTube - Dave Edmunds - I Hear You Knocking[/ame]

Why not try the idea of plastic bags or something similar then?, I hate the idea of mass woodpecker slaughter, I agree its upsetting for you , but you really cannot be serious in trying to kill them surely there must be an alternative, and as you say they are protected. They do a useful job for us in that they eat hornet lava, and no doubt hold a useful place in the eco system of the wooden hills they inhabit....have you tried talking to Italians to see what their solution might be , or I guess if all else fails use metal outer shutters to protect the windows.
A

Can you not coat the shutters with something if it's freaking you out so much? Something distasteful to Woodpeckers - like that stuff people use to stop themselves biting their nails.

[quote=Angie and Robert;101766]Why not try the idea of plastic bags or something similar then?, I hate the idea of mass woodpecker slaughter, I agree its upsetting for you , but you really cannot be serious in trying to kill them surely there must be an alternative, and as you say they are protected. They do a useful job for us in that they eat hornet lava, and no doubt hold a useful place in the eco system of the wooden hills they inhabit....have you tried talking to Italians to see what their solution might be , or I guess if all else fails use metal outer shutters to protect the windows.
A[/quote]

As I said above we are not proposing to try to kill woodpeckers; there would be no point as there are too many of them (and I am mindful of Hitchcock's film the Birds!!!). We have tried plastic bags - no good - and talking to the locals - again no good. That is why we have now resorted to metal grilles over the shutters (at considerable cost) - just hope the doors will be ok

[quote=juliancoll;101769]Can you not coat the shutters with something if it's freaking you out so much? Something distasteful to Woodpeckers - like that stuff people use to stop themselves biting their nails.[/quote]

Have discussed with ferramente, falagname and anyone else who will listen but no one can suggest a product of this type (or one that they are confident will work). There is some anti-pigeon spray which you can buy but its v expensive, has to be reapplied every 3 weeks ( we are not there all the time so would not always be able to do this) and no-one knows if its effective against woodpeckers

As a thought - can I suggest you coat the shutter in something like Teak Oil [or possibly spray on WD40] as this may well mask any 'edible insect signs' from the Woodpecker

I'm assuming that the woodpeckers are most likely hunting for wood boring bugs.

.

these are our shutters being painted.

I know that you are joking about killing woodpeckers so I'll not comment more!