Well, Wayne Webb is not the only one with woodpecker problems !
Sometime awhile back he posted about a woodpecker damaging a sandblasted sign of his, and apparently the woodpecker kept returning and pecking out the tree graphic on his sign. I thought that was kinda funny, like the bird thought the tree was real or something.
But I'm not laughing now. I had 6 signs at a camp damaged in the last week, and am at a loss as to how to prevent this from happening again.
The woodpecker involved this time is one of those pileated ones that are an endangered species, so we can't go shooting him, although that's crossed my mind.
The camp director wants to put a plastic owl up, but at the rate this one bird is going we'd need a whole flock of owls all over the place.
Any ideas on how to deter this knothead bird? Posted by Raymond Chapman (Member # 361) on :
When I was visiting Gary Anderson this summer, he had some damage done by woodpeckers to a few of his signs. I wonder what they are looking for? Does something tell them that there's a bug inside that sign?
No answers here, just observations.
Posted by Dan Streicher (Member # 4515) on :
well i know you are not going to like the way that i solved this problem, but it worked. after having a woodpecker destroy a few thousand dollars worth of wooden dimensional signs, my customer reordered and had us make the signs out of HDU...and obviously against what we all thought the bird(s) came back and destroyed the replacement signs which led to many jokes about the new species of bird the HDUpeckers...so instead of subjecting the clients checkbook to another round of destruction and having to replace these signs yet again the third shot at this we finished the dimensional signs and attached a clear piece of thin lexan with non glare finish to the sign so that it rested on the border and faces of the letters and graphics.
No more bird problems, although not the ideal answer it was all that we could all come up with short of making flat signs which really did not fit the environment.
the owner was paranoid to say the least after having to order signs 3 times in less than a year and he installed spike strips to the areas near the signs where the birds could land to keep them away all together, the strips looked horrible in my opinion but at that point you have to do what you have to do.
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
What Jeff says is true:
I made the first sandblasted sign from heart redwood, it had two "oak trees" on it. A woodpecker gouged out baseball-sized holes on the trunk of each "tree". So I made an identical sign out of HDU and the woodpecker did the same thing in the same places on both "trees". He pecked all the way through the sign. I guess my trees were realistic enough.
I had originally suspected that carpenter bees had gotten in the redwood sign and the bird was after them. But I don't thinks so now, and that couldn't have been the case with the HDU. Someone here in Letterville told me that woodpeckers are "territorial". That's the only explanation I have.
Jeff, the only two solutions I can come up with are to make the sign out of granite, steel or....tell the client to go woodpecker huntin'.
Posted by Jeff Ogden (Member # 3184) on :
Am I correct in stating that woodpeckers are the only known attacker of hdu ? Other than humans, of course. They need to change the wording on the product sheets where they say "will not rot, decay, impervious to bugs and termites, etc." and add "but watch out for those woodpeckers".
I don't know what they're looking for either Raymond. If you find out let me know. A friend just told me about a woodpecker that drilled on a sattelite dish for several days...evidently the bird never could figure out that it was metal he was beating his brains out on.
Posted by Jon Jantz (Member # 6137) on :
I've heard of a coating that you can get in different colors that is so hard they claim it's bulletproof.... it's call Perma-Crete and I wonder if you could paint a sign with it... http://www.permacrete.com/
They claim in their FAQ that it will stop a 9mm bullet from 18", that oughta be woodpecker proof...
That woodpecker would look like this next time he attacked the sign...
Posted by Curtis hammond (Member # 2170) on :
Wood pecker DRUM for their mating calls. The first thing they find that drums wel is the first thing they will tear up. Usually they do it on metal downspouts. But a nice panel will do because it sounds so good to them.
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
Woodpeckers don't attack signs designed on a Mac.
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
...they're looking for the bugs.
Posted by Jeff Ogden (Member # 3184) on :
Oh David you're killing me !
Jon, thats also very a funny image you got there. I may NEED to start using that hardcoat in some locations down here. I wonder how that PB hardcoat would hold up under a woodpecker attack? Maybe I need to hold some hardcoat field trials out in woodpeckerville, cause I gotta do something. I don't think the woodpeckers are going away anytime soon
I don't know about the drumming theory when a bird chooses hdu...all he'd get was more like a thump hitting that soft hdu. Unless the bird was sort of a wallflower type, that didn't want to attract too much attention.
[ October 24, 2006, 09:45 PM: Message edited by: Jeff Ogden ]
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
Oh BTW Jeff... Nice looking sign!
Posted by Bobbie Rochow (Member # 3341) on :
Yea, first of all, Jeff, beautiful signs, too bad they are getting pecked apart!
I say stake out & shoot them suckers! My father in law had those things tearing his house apart & tried the owl thing & everything & finally shot him.
Good picture, Jon! Ha! They really are neat looking birds, & pretty big, too!
Posted by Russ McMullin (Member # 5617) on :
Interesting Russ...thanks for the link. Sounds like the deterrant spray might be worth a try.
[ October 24, 2006, 09:46 PM: Message edited by: Jeff Ogden ]
Posted by FranCisco Vargas (Member # 145) on :
Hey Jeff, I think the woodpecker wanted to let you know of his design styles he learned at the WoodPeckers Convention Center in St Louis last week. With all kinding aside I think the Abracadara Magic Clay would work on the section that needs to be fixed. And then sell them on the lexan faces if they want more protection. Amigo, it isn't your fault the peckers felt like pecking, don't replace anything out of your pocket...
Posted by Adrienne Morgan (Member # 1046) on :
The Pileated woodpecker is not currently on the endangered species list, but it is protected. The Ivory Billed woodpecker is considered to be extinct. (looks like a pileated) http://www.pileatedwoodpeckercentral.com/information.htm Posted by Russ McMullin (Member # 5617) on :
Looks like they'd better mind their Ps and Qs, and start pecking real wood if they want to stay off that endangered list.
Actually, the only birds I can think of that aren't considered protected are starlings and english sparrows - birds not indigenous to this country.
Posted by Ricky Jackson (Member # 5082) on :
What about doming the lettering/graphics with epoxy resin? Also, a rubber snake placed anywhere around the sign will keep all birds away from it. I had an outdoor swing and the birds would use the top rail as a crapper, right down onto the seat. I put a rubber snake on it and had no more problems.
Posted by Linda Silver Eagle (Member # 274) on :
Up in West Virginia, I had opposum in my world, unwanted by me. I was told to use fox urine (available at hunting stores) to deter them. I instead, put the dog out there where they were getting in and voila, house was free from excess critters. Surely woodpeckers have a deterent as well?
Posted by Eric McDowell (Member # 6857) on :
Try some wooden owls so woody has something else to put his pecker in.
Posted by Adrienne Morgan (Member # 1046) on :
Russ, you are correct.
Did you know that Starlings are better talkers than most parrots? Unfortunatly, they are messier than a caged mynah bird(I was going to be an Ornithologist when I grew up I told myself in HS) A:)
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
Good luck Jeff. Nothing to add here to your list of possible solutions, but I'll be watching if you post a proven solution some day.
Posted by Russ McMullin (Member # 5617) on :
I hadn't heard about starlings being talkers. That's pretty cool. I'm tempted to find a young one next spring and try that out.
Magpies are excellent talkers. I saw one in a pet store (not for sale), and it talked better than their mynah. I've heard many people repeat the idea that their tongue must be split in order to talk. That is total rubbish.
Regarding the topic, I don't see fake owls as a long term solution because I think birds get used to seeing them. I've seen them on the tops of billboards, with pigeons perched right next to them. It would be cool if a real owl moved into the neighborhood, and caught them all by surprise!
Posted by Bobbie Rochow (Member # 3341) on :
I like the rubber snake idea! And you wouldn't have to shoot 'em either.
Posted by Curtis hammond (Member # 2170) on :
i think some of that magic sculpt or magic smooth product would be perfect. Smooth a layer over the letters, paint it as before, its rock hard and another pecker wouldn't move in and redo the previously shot peckers work...
Posted by captain ken (Member # 742) on :
maybe its those hoodlums from Giggle Ridge...
Posted by Rene Giroux (Member # 4980) on :
I wonder if those birds could be hired when business is a little slow ???
Posted by Dave Utter (Member # 634) on :
Is this a seasonal thing? does it happen all around a certain time, or just "whenever". Maybe you only need to take preventative measures during a certain time of the year. Also, maybe you could find an Audubon Society website and email them. Maybe they have an idea.
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The Pileated woodpecker is not currently on the endangered species list, but it is protected.