Busy Woodpecker Stores 700 Lbs of Acorns in California House Walls

A California pest control company recently reported one of the most unusual cases it has ever worked on – a woodpecker filling the walls of a house with over 700 lbs (317 kg) of acorns.

Nick Castro of Nick’s Extreme Pest Control, a pest control company in California, thought he had seen it all in his 20+ years in the business, but even he was shocked by one of his most recent finds. Last month, Castro was commissioned by a California family to fix the “work” of a persistent woodpecker that kept pecking holes in the outer walls of their house and filling them with acorns. The woodpecker didn’t account for the empty space between the wall layers, so the acorns he kept bringing in didn’t stay put; instead, they fell to the bottom of the walls and eventually started coming out of various orifices inside. Nick knew he would find a few acorns if he searched well enough, but nowhere near the massive pile he ended up with…

Read More »

Busy Woodpecker Almost Brings Down Utility Pole

Woody Woodpecker’s exploits only seemed possible in the popular Looney Toons cartoon, but one real-life woodpecker recently proved that the birds can some pretty incredible things, if they put their mind to it, like peck through an entire wooden power pole.

Last week, a photo posted by the Snohomish County Public Utility District did the rounds on social media, garnering dozens of shares and comments, and for good reason. It showed a wooden power pole barely hanging on by a thread, after having been pecked by a hard-working woodpecker. How the pole was still standing, considering the damage that had been done to it, is anyone’s guess, but a few more pecks or a strong gust of wind would have probably brought it down in a day or two. Luckily, Snohomish County staff managed to change it in time.

Read More »