"Dark Knight" wrote in message ...
Here in Canada we have the Humane Society, which will come out and determine
if the woodpecker is a "problem" - i.e. damaging siding. If the bird is
determined to be such, then they take care of it.

DK

BTW I've never heard the bit about suet before. How did you come across
that Steve.

Being a deer hunter, I knew that woodpeckers, juncos, chickadees, jays and the like would swarm over
the gut pile of any deer that I field dressed. I'd watch them pick the bits of fat and other
assorted goodies.

So, before I moved into town, and lived in the woods, whenever I would shoot a deer, after I was
done boning out the meat, I would take all the fat trimmings and put them in an onion sack and hang
it in a tree near the house so that we could watch the birds feed. They love the stuff! Then, I
took it one step further, much to my wife's dismay. I would tie a short piece of rope to the rib
cage/backbone of the boned deer and hang that in the backyard trees! Woodpeckers loved the
"birdfeeders" that I hung, although Janet was less than pleased with the aesthetics....

Now that I'm semi-civilized, I can no longer hang the ribcage in the trees in the yard, but I still
use deer fat (or lacking that) store bought suet to feed the birds. Woodpeckers are all over them.

I just took the idea one step further, from my college days when I used rat traps to "harvest"
pheasants in a nearby vacant lot. I was forced to use them after the local law enforcement
officials came to my apartment, wondering if I knew anything about someone shooting pheasants from
one of the balconies with a bow and arrow! I, of course pleaded ignorance to knowing anyone that
would do such a heinous crime... But to a college student with little money, pheasants sure tasted
good!

I think that a rat trap, screwed to a tree and baited with suet would trap a woodpecker, especially
if they got used to feeding on the stuff first.
--
Steve
OutdoorFrontiers
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