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Woodpeckers are always more noticeable and more damaging once spring comes along and temperatures begin to rise. Why you might ask? It is because mating season has begun. And males are aggressively trying to peck to be noticed. As a result, it is this time of the year that we receive many requests for something to remedy woodpecker activity and to discourage them from areas where they could cause costly damage.

Here are some solutions for scaring woodpeckers away from areas around your home.

1.) Scare them away: Woodpeckers are can be made uncomfortable if they feel unsafe or unsure about an area. Some of the best deterrents for woodpeckers are reflective, moving, and bouncing materials. We sell a scare tape that flaps in the wind and that works quite well for moving the woodpecker to a different area. There are also scare owls and hawks that can work for several days to hopefully retrain the woodpecker to go somewhere else. If using the scare owl or hawk, it is best to move them to a new position every couple of days to keep the woodpecker guessing!

2.) Remove or cover up inviting wood surfaces: Woodpeckers enjoy wood that makes lots of noise! The more noise, the better, especially during mating season. This act is called "drumming" and it allows a woodpecker to attract a mate while also claiming a territory. In order to prevent drumming, you can do one of a few things, including covering up surfaces so that birds cannot get to them. You can consider padded a surface or filling holes so that the wood doesn't have the same noise making properties that it did before. Some have success with setting up a more attractive stump or hollowed log for them away from the house to entice them.

3.) Eliminate a food source: Some of a woodpeckers favorite food sources are carpenter bee larvae and beetles that may lay inside of wood. If these birds are looking for food when they peck, holes are often numerous and shallow. If you think that certain wood surfaces are infested with bugs, by remedying the bugs, you may eliminate your woodpecker activity.