US LIVE FROM ROCKPORT RIGHT NOW. EMILY ED MARIA. THIS PESKY WOODPECKER IS THE NEIGHBOR. YOU JUST CAN’T STAND. AND WHILE HE MAY BE BEAUTIFUL TO LOOK AT, HE IS A MENACE UP HERE ON SQUAM HILL ROAD. HE’S TAKEN OUT ALL OUR MIRRORS IN TOWN. HE’S MAKING THE ROUNDS. HE’S DEFINITELY A VANDAL AND HE’S SHOWING NO SIGNS OF STOPPING. SOME OF THIS IS FROM LAST YEAR, BUT THIS IS FROM THIS YEAR. LEWIS PERRY IS NO STRANGER TO THIS PILEATED WOODPECKER. HE SAYS THE BIRD’S BEEN DRILLING HIS HOUSE FOR A FEW YEARS. HE’S GETTING CRAZY THIS YEAR. HE’S DOING SOME STUFF AND HE’S ON THE NEWS. HE’S FAMOUS NOW. THE WOODPECKER NOW, TAKING TO CARS AND TRUCKS, TARGETING MIRRORS. THEY SEE THE REFLECTION AND THEY GO. GO FOR IT. AS IF IT’S A RIVAL. DAVID RASCHE WAS ABOUT TO BLAME HIS SON FOR THE CRACKED MIRRORS ON HIS VAN, UNTIL HE HEARD FROM HIS NEIGHBOR. MY NEIGHBOR SHOWED ME HER TWO MIRRORS THAT GOT WERE ATTACKED JUST UP THE ROAD. WE HAD ONE, TWO, THREE. WE HAD FOUR JUST BETWEEN THE TWO OF US. JANELLE CAVALLARO AND HER FAMILY HAVE FALLEN VICTIM TO THE WOODPECKER, EVEN POSTING ABOUT THE MASTERMIND BEHIND THE MIRROR MISCHIEF ON FACEBOOK. BECAUSE WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT A WOODPECKER THAT BIG WOULD LAND ON YOUR CAR AND TAKE OUT YOUR MIRROR? NOW NEIGHBORS ARE WRAPPING THEIR CAR MIRRORS IN TRASH BAGS, FOLDING THEM IN EVERY DAY, HOPING TO AVOID BECOMING THE NEXT TARGET. EVERYONE’S BANDED TOGETHER TO SEE IF THEY CAN OUTSMART HIM, AND WHILE HE EVADED OUR CAMERA TODAY, NEIGHBORS SAY WHEN YOU SEE HIM, YOU CAN’T MISS HIM. HE’S GOT THE BIG RED HEAD. HE LOOKS LIKE THE REAL LIFE VERSION OF WOODY WOODPECKER. AND A BEAK. BIG BEAK. SO WHAT’S DRIVING THIS WOODPECKER TO DO THIS KIND OF DAMAGE? WELL, WE REACHED OUT TO THE EXPERTS OVER AT MASS AUDUBON. THEY TELL ME HE’S LIKELY A SINGLE WOODPECKER PROTECTING HIS TERRITORY. THEY SAY HE’S PROBABLY MISTAKING HIS REFLECTION FOR SOME COMPETITION. THEY SAY, WELL, THEY’VE NEVER SEEN THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOR WITH A WOODPECKER ATTACKING MIRRORS. THEY SAY IT WILL LIKELY BE A FEW MORE WEEKS BEFORE HE GOES INTO NESTING MODE. LI
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'He's getting crazy': Neighbors fed up after pesky woodpecker damages cars, homes
A woodpecker in a Rockport, Massachusetts, neighborhood is known to frequent the local woods, often drilling into dead trees, but he's taken on a new target — the car mirrors and windshields in town. Witnesses say the pileated woodpecker stands about 18 to 20 inches tall. It has a black and white body and a distinctive red head.The woodpecker has been caught on camera perching on cars and trucks and drilling into the side mirrors, leaving some cracked and others shattered.It's unclear if the woodpecker is working alone, but he is the talk of the town. Louis Perry says the woodpecker has been drilling his house for several years. "He's getting crazy this year. He's doing some stuff," Perry said. "And he's on the news. He's famous now."Neighbors like Perry say the woodpecker has been around for a couple of seasons. However, this is the first time it's ever started damaging property and cars. They say trees and homes were the most common targets in the past.David Rash was about to blame his son for the shattered mirrors on his van until he heard from his neighbor. "Yeah, they see their reflection, and they go for it as if it's a rival," Rash said. "And my neighbor showed me her two mirrors were attacked."And just up the road, Janelle Favaloro and her family say they have also fallen victim to the woodpecker, posting about the bird on Facebook."Because who would have thought a woodpecker that big would land on your car and take out your mirror," Favaloro said. Now, neighbors are wrapping their car mirrors in trash bags and folding them in every day in hopes that they won't be the woodpecker's next target. "He looks like the real-life version of Woody Woodpecker," Favaloro said.
A woodpecker in a Rockport, Massachusetts, neighborhood is known to frequent the local woods, often drilling into dead trees, but he's taken on a new target — the car mirrors and windshields in town.
Witnesses say the pileated woodpecker stands about 18 to 20 inches tall. It has a black and white body and a distinctive red head.
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The woodpecker has been caught on camera perching on cars and trucks and drilling into the side mirrors, leaving some cracked and others shattered.
It's unclear if the woodpecker is working alone, but he is the talk of the town. Louis Perry says the woodpecker has been drilling his house for several years.
"He's getting crazy this year. He's doing some stuff," Perry said. "And he's on the news. He's famous now."
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Neighbors like Perry say the woodpecker has been around for a couple of seasons. However, this is the first time it's ever started damaging property and cars. They say trees and homes were the most common targets in the past.
David Rash was about to blame his son for the shattered mirrors on his van until he heard from his neighbor.
"Yeah, they see their reflection, and they go for it as if it's a rival," Rash said. "And my neighbor showed me her two mirrors were attacked."
And just up the road, Janelle Favaloro and her family say they have also fallen victim to the woodpecker, posting about the bird on Facebook.
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"Because who would have thought a woodpecker that big would land on your car and take out your mirror," Favaloro said.
Now, neighbors are wrapping their car mirrors in trash bags and folding them in every day in hopes that they won't be the woodpecker's next target.
"He looks like the real-life version of Woody Woodpecker," Favaloro said.
