Have you ever been woken up early in the morning by hammering noise outside your home? It might take a few minutes to discover what it is that’s making such a horrid noise but you soon discover it is a woodpecker. If a woodpecker hits the right spot on the exterior of your home it can be heard from every square inch. It’s not only loud when they peck at your house but also when they are attacking a nearby tree. Woodpeckers are really cool to watch and observe but they can be one of natures most annoying.
Before you go out and start shooting woodpeckers with your pellet gun, you better think twice. Not like anyone could hit a woodpeckers with a pellet gun anyway. Some of these birds are protected by the Migratory Bird Act of 1918 which protects certain species from harm. Make sure you know what you are up against before you start trying to eliminate a woodpecker. Try and get a picture of the bird and do a little research on it to find out which class it is in. Also know that in most cases it’s not just the birds that are protected but their eggs, nests and feathers are also protected. The stature states that it is illegal to hunt, pursue, kill, capture or sell migratory birds, so be careful what you do.
There are a few ways you can try and keep the birds away without harming them or their surroundings. There are really three ways to keep birds away without harming them and they are by sound, by vision and by trapping if all else fails.
The first technique involves using sound to keep the birds away from you home. These systems can be purchased and actually do work pretty well. The way they work is that they are triggered by movement and create a predatory bird call warning the woodpecker to leave the area. The only problem with these systems is that they are very pricy. Looking around the internet I found them anywhere from $200 to $500. Personally I would rather listen to a woodpecker than pay that kind of money.
The second technique is by using some sort of visual distraction to the birds. Anything that moves and reflects light is a good way to keep woodpeckers out of the area. This is pretty easy to do, just find something that could possibly hang from your house that is shiny and moves with the natural breezes. This can get a little ugly I understand but there are some good things you can use to ease the eye sore. Wind chimes are a good way to keep woodpeckers away, the noise won’t bother them but the reflections of the shiny metal will. There are also lot of home made devices you can make using ordinary household items such as foil.
Finally, the third way to get rid of woodpeckers is to trap. I don’t recommend this and it should only be used for last resort type of situations. You have to go through the proper channels such as wildlife professionals. It is usually a long and drawn out process and in my opinion it would be easier and more efficient to try all means necessary before trying to trap.
There are several ways to get rid of woodpeckers but these are the most common and most efficient way of doing it. Just keep in mind that you have to be careful what you do to these animals or even their surroundings. Make sure you know the laws and it would probably be a good idea to get in touch with animal control and the wildlife division in your community.
