Woodpeckers are a beautiful and nationally protected bird, however, they frequently choose homes as their pecking locations. If a woodpecker is pecking your home, it can cause serious damage and can even reduce the value of your house. Because woodpeckers are nationally protected birds, it is illegal to kill them. Do not use any form of lethal poisons or weapons to deal with a woodpecker. The guide below will help you stop a woodpecker from pecking on your home.

Cover Their Holes

A simple way to stop woodpeckers from pecking on your home is by covering their holes. The woodpeckers are looking for insects in the wood, if you cover their holes with something that is not made from wood, they will not be able to access the bugs. Additionally, you can cover their holes with aluminum. The shine and the sound of the metal will deter them from pecking your house.

Shiny Objects

If you do not have aluminum to cover the woodpecker’s holes, you can still deter them with shiny objects. Mirrors and pieces of foil can help distress the bird and cause them to leave your house alone. This method is not completely effective, however, because some woodpeckers will overcome their fear of shiny objects.

Sprinklers

Woodpeckers do not like being wet or clinging to wet surfaces. Set a sprinkler so that it is hitting your house in the location where the woodpecker usually pecks. The woodpecker will leave after being sprayed, because it will not want to attempt to cling to the wet surface.

Distress Tapes

Woodpecker distress tapes can be purchased from home improvement or gardening stores. These tapes mimic the distress calls of woodpeckers and can cause the real woodpecker to be too scared to approach the home. These tapes are audible. It is important to purchase a tape with audible woodpecker sounds. The tapes that do not make noise are not effective.

Netting

If your house has an eve, it is possible to deter woodpeckers through the use of netting. Hang the netting under the eve and extend it outwards from the house and tack it down. This will prevent the woodpecker from being able to reach the wood of your house. Unfortunately, this technique can be difficult to set up and take down. It is also fairly expensive and unattractive. This is a very effective method, but is best as a last resort.

Eyeball Balloons

Eyeball balloons can be purchased at a gardening or home improvement store and mimic the appearance of owl eyes. Woodpeckers are extremely afraid of owls and will not go near them. Unfortunately, the woodpecker will eventually discover that the balloons are not owls. If you are lucky, the woodpecker may move on before discovering that the eyeballs are fakes.

Owl Statues

Owl statues are a common response to woodpecker problems, however, they rarely work. Most woodpeckers will only be deceived by owl statues momentarily. They will quickly resume their pecking and your home will be in just as much danger as before. If the statues are moved on a daily basis, they become slightly more effective and may fool the woodpecker for longer.

Conclusion

Woodpeckers can cause damage to your house and cannot legally be killed. The most effective way to get rid of woodpeckers is through the use of netting, but the netting is fairly expensive and difficult to set up. The best way to get rid of woodpeckers, under most circumstances, is the use of reflective objects and by covering their holes. This will disturb and frustrate them until they move on to a new pecking location.

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