What Could These Pests Be? (Seattle, Walla Walla: new home, buy, living in)

[metrodixie]

Hi, actually I am in University Place, suberb of Tacoma, WA. Dont live on a lake but have a man made pond.

We for the last 2 months keep hearing between 1-4am horrible fighting. Right out isde the bed room window. We have lots of fir trees, dirt and some dead and downed trees in the back yard.

The fighting???...mating?...scared the crud out of me the first few times. They were hitting the side of the house and sonrting, growling and panting. I thought it was a wolf or more. Scared to go out the next morning to see the damage.

No damage. Heard it several more times, very frightening!

Last night right on the roof above my bedroom at 4am it sounded like teenagers stomping, rustling and then it turned to growl, snort, huff. We went outside! Threw a basketball on the roof and saw 2 RACCONS! Those bugers!

I dont know about any holes being dug because the do keeps digging under the deck and everywhere else and he shows signs that ther is something under our decking. We have sighted MANY Racoon in the yard, trees in the early daytime hours but we have also seen opposom.

However the fight last night was definatley Racoon as we saw thier tails after throwing the basketball on the roof to startle them. It did seem to stop the quarling too by the way.

Just thought you may be interested in my experience.

Take Care,
metrodixie

[eagleheart]

wow - that is great news. Castor Oil - going to try that. I have been bothered by moles for the last 5 years here in Birch Bay. have spent hours watching for movement on the mounds. Have successfully shot and killed one with a 22. Have also tried pouring broken glass down the hole, the smoke bombs, the battery-powered missle-looking thing (that looks like a pointed *****) and found that to be a total waste of money. The only thing that has worked so far is watching for movement of dirt upward, then quickly stepping on a shovel down into the center and bringing the little bugger up where s/he can be hit several times and killed. Amazingly, they are very fragile.

I sent a photo into the Bellingham Herald and it was published in Wild Things on September 24, 2002. You can go into archives and see it, if you have never seen one.

I have also tried the bait from the pointed cylindrical containers and that did not work. I almost wish we had the eastern variety because their movement would be easier to see, though they cause more damage to the surface.

If someone smart could create a metal detector designed to locate their nests, we could eradicate them altogether. Perhaps it could be set to hone in on a density of bones - when the parents and offspring are in the nest.

Anyway, good luck in getting rid of them. Unfortunately, the neighbor's moles will sense that there is a void and come into your yard or the babies will grow up and start off where the parents left off.

karl

[KidBlue]

My dogs have easily killed all the moles we've had on our acreage. My father used to use a mole trap that sends spikes into their tunnel when then pass under it (sounds awful unless you're living with moles). This trap did work and killed the moles. I've heard that the smell of peppermint will deter golphers, but not sure if it works on moles. Good luck.

If anyone can come up with a way to get rid of woodpeckers, I would be forever in your debt. They have totally pecked away all of the trim boards on my cedar home (the trim boards are fir) and are starting to eat away the siding. Sometimes we get up to six birds (Acorn Woodpeckers) at a time pecking. I own several pairs of earphones.

Do you have any problems with woodpeckers in western WA? I've had trouble with cougars, foxes, racoons, moles, golphers, rabbits, skunks, deer, possum, bobcats, squirrels, antelope, and even the neighbor's giant pig, but the woodpeckers have all the others beat combined.

[jennien13]

The loud, ferocious, fighting you heard, sort of like a cat dying, was definitely 2 'possoms attacking one another. I have heard that sound dozens of times as I was raised on a small farm. My Dad would wake up in the middle of the night and try shooting them both. I hate that horrible sound!

[the dufferz]

Originally Posted by KidBlue

Do you have any problems with woodpeckers in western WA? I've had trouble with cougars, foxes, racoons, moles, golphers, rabbits, skunks, deer, possum, bobcats, squirrels, antelope, and even the neighbor's giant pig, but the woodpeckers have all the others beat combined.

Woodpeckers we have, but we have nice one's that are trained not to bother homeowners here.

Actually, 'peckers are not common place. WE have slugs.

[jabm67]

Originally Posted by KidBlue

If anyone can come up with a way to get rid of woodpeckers, I would be forever in your debt. They have totally pecked away all of the trim boards on my cedar home (the trim boards are fir) and are starting to eat away the siding. Sometimes we get up to six birds (Acorn Woodpeckers) at a time pecking. I own several pairs of earphones.

Do you have any problems with woodpeckers in western WA? I've had trouble with cougars, foxes, racoons, moles, golphers, rabbits, skunks, deer, possum, bobcats, squirrels, antelope, and even the neighbor's giant pig, but the woodpeckers have all the others beat combined.

Acorn woodpeckers live by hoarding acorns, and acorn production varies considerably from season to season (there's a superabundance in "mast" years, rather fewer in other years). In the wild, they store them by drilling into dead trees and pushing the acorns into the holes. I've seen pictures of the trees, and it looks like finger-size holes an inch or two apart, covering the whole solid surface of the tree. It never occurred to me before that they'd be a problem for houses, but it seems obvious now that I see it mentioned. I think they live communally too.

Acorn woodpeckers don't get as far north as WA. According to the birder pages, it looks like central Oregon is as north as they get.

Here in my neighborhood in Seattle, across the street there's a pair of flickers that raise a brood every year, and last weekend a Downy woodpecker visited my suet feeder. Neither of those make any trouble for us, but their habits are very different from the acorn woodpecker.

You might call a local college and see if you can find a faculty person in the biology dept willing to talk with you about it. Or, perhaps, a local Audubon chapter.

My initial guess would be to put metal siding on, but I don't know if that'd work. You might have to go to brick or stone.

[RAT]

This is what I have been told works well on moles.

Take a regular house lightbulb, or even a floresent bulb, crush it up and place in the holes. Moles have very large front feet with lots of blood vessels. They cut themselves on the light bulb glass and bleed to death.

Your creature under the house is most likely a Racoon.

Another pest in the area is the Norway Rats. They are rats that burrow underground. But they don't leave fluffy mounds like the moles do. Their tunnels always have three or more escape exits in their tunnel systems. They will fight with each other and make quite a ruckus too. But not enough to actually feel the floor move.

[RAT]

Originally Posted by KidBlue

My dogs have easily killed all the moles we've had on our acreage. My father used to use a mole trap that sends spikes into their tunnel when then pass under it (sounds awful unless you're living with moles). This trap did work and killed the moles. I've heard that the smell of peppermint will deter golphers, but not sure if it works on moles. Good luck.

If anyone can come up with a way to get rid of woodpeckers, I would be forever in your debt. They have totally pecked away all of the trim boards on my cedar home (the trim boards are fir) and are starting to eat away the siding. Sometimes we get up to six birds (Acorn Woodpeckers) at a time pecking. I own several pairs of earphones.

Do you have any problems with woodpeckers in western WA? I've had trouble with cougars, foxes, racoons, moles, golphers, rabbits, skunks, deer, possum, bobcats, squirrels, antelope, and even the neighbor's giant pig, but the woodpeckers have all the others beat combined.

The wood peckers are pecking at your house because there are bugs or grubs. I used to think they peck wood because that was just what wood peckers do. I have since learned they only do that to get to food. My sister had to put a net up around the area she had problems with them. Wood peckers are a protected species. So a gun is out of the question. LOL but it would work the best.

[scallawag]

Quantum, I'm glad your original post got resurrected...for the wealth of info, but mostly (and I hope this was OK, because it was totally empathized with) the entertainment value. I had to read it out loud to everyone home, and my 15-yr-old son doubled over. He doesn't get excited over much, but we were able to connect and have a "moment." You have a gift for making the smallest details come to life. Have you considered writing a screenplay? I'm sure the movie would never be as good as the written word, but you might think about giving it a go.
We, too, are plagued with burrowing critters, and I'm not sure if they're gophers or moles, but they are unwelcome in my attempts to create a garden that would be featured in a magazine someday. Emphasis on the "someday," but I am hopeful!LOL We tried the poisoned arsenic wheat, but all I got were wheat plants. Also tried the Destroyer sulfur smoke bombs. The critters crawl just under my weed cloth, and have created such a system of interconnecting tunnels that I risk twisting an ankle trying to tend the garden when the ground gives way. I will have to try the many new ideas here.

[KidBlue]

Glad to know my mortal enemy, the acorn woodpecker, is not in Washington. Another reason to move there! I think I'm going to try covering the edge of the roof with aluminum and glue the edge of the roof (composition) down and see if that works. I've read lots of stuff on why the 'peckers are attacking, but what seems to be happening on my house is that they are substituting my house (which is two stories) for a tree. They are in cahoots with the squirrels which stick acorns under the edge of the roof. Then the birds steal the acorns (pecking the heck out of the house in the process), drill a hole in the trim boards and then stick the acorn in the hole. Most of the trees around here are oaks and are too hard for the birds to drill, so the nice soft pine on the house is very nice for them.

If the metal doesn't work, I'll also be replacing some of the siding with Hardy Plank which looks like cedar but is made of cement and wood fiber. It's supposed to be too hard for woodpeckers but mine seem unusually persistent. I'll let you know how my plans work and if I will be living in a tent after spending all of my money getting rid of the woodpeckers.

I got so desperate I did try using a gun (luckily it was a B-B pistol) but those pests are so smart that as soon as they hear the door open, they fly off and come back as soon as I go into the house.