Keep Woodpeckers Away from Wood Siding

LESLIE: Pete in Colorado is under attack by woodpeckers. (Tom chuckles) Tell us what’s going on?

PETE: (chuckles) Yep, we’ve got a wood-sided house and it’s beautiful except that every spring the woodpeckers show up and, in about 15 minutes max, they can drill a hole three or four inches diameter in the side of the house.

TOM: Wow.

PETE: And I would love a way to get rid of them. And a slight extra complication if you’re thinking of extreme measures; my wife is a naturalist and she wouldn’t want to be too upset.

TOM: (chuckling) Yeah.

PETE: So probably no .22s.

TOM: Yeah. So weapons are out of the question. (chuckles) Well, I’ll tell you. There’s an option, Pete, and that is one thing that actually works very, very well is if you can attach something that’s very reflective to the siding and even have it blowing in the wind – like a couple of tin pie plates works really well – hang it from the fascia or the soffit, in that area, when the woodpeckers decide to come and nest and that usually really freaks them out and sends them to the neighbors’ house.

PETE: How far apart would you place them?

TOM: Well, how wide is your house; like 30 feet maybe?

PETE: Thirty feet wide and a hundred feet long.

TOM: And do they attack the 100-foot side as well?

PETE: Oh, yeah.

TOM: Yeah. Maybe every 10 feet.

PETE: OK.

TOM: Give it a shot. Try one side of the house and see if they stay off that side. You’ll know you have a solution.

LESLIE: (chuckles) And attack the other.

TOM: Then you just take them down when it gets a little warmer and they are not so into searching for bugs behind your siding.

PETE: Oh, yeah. Well, they mostly do it in order to attract a mate; so once they’ve taken care of that, we’re done.

TOM: (chuckles) Tell them you’ll build them a house and leave yours alone.