A homeowner sought help from a professional when a woodpecker damaged the exterior siding of the house by pecking holes in the walls to store acorns for later consumption. When a pest control professional cut holes in the interior part of the house, a steady stream of acorns flooded the floor. They weighed an astonishing 700 pounds (approx. 317.5 kilograms). The pest control professional claimed he had never experienced anything like this in his business for over 20 years.
The Dodo reported pest control professional Nick Castro of Nick’s Extreme Pest Control in California shared an unusual situation involving a client’s home. The culprit is a woodpecker making holes in the house’s exterior sidings, storing acorns for later consumption. The homeowner explained that most of the acorns were falling through the cavities inside the walls. However, what he discovered after cutting a hole in the wall was astonishing. A deluge of acorns flooded the floor, and Nick had to cut more holes around the house to release all the acorns inside the walls.
A steady stream of acorns flooded the floor in every hole Nick cut on the wall. He assumed the acorns were only a quarter of the way up the walls. However, he discovered the woodpecker had also piled them up in the attic walls. “They just kept coming and coming, nonstop,” Nick said. “Acorns were thought to be only about a quarter of the way up the wall. Turned out, they were piled high up to the attic of the house.”
Finally, 700 pounds of acorns were released from the walls, enough to fill 8 large garbage bags. “I never saw anything like that before,” Castro said.
Nick Castro explained that his company has a strict policy. “All animals are handled humanely and NEVER euthanized.” A woodpecker is no different and is included in the policy. He repaired the holes in the exterior sidings, adding new vinyl sidings to encourage the woodpecker to find a new place to store her food. Fortunately, not a single acorn was left inside the walls. Nick said that this case was “completely nuts.”
Images credits: © Nick’s Extreme Pest Control/Facebook
