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Spring is in the air and for the past two weeks I've encountered a Downy Woodpecker along my running route. I hear him from about 400 meters as he sits on top of a metal street lamp post tapping away. I've heard woodpeckers tapping on metal street signs and gutters before so I thought I'd do some research to see if these birds had bashed their heads so much that they were crazy or if the metal tapping had some significance. What I discovered is that this is the mating season for woodpeckers and this behaviour is common. Apparently the male woodpecker uses the loud ringing sound as a method of attracting hot looking female woodpeckers. Reminds me of High School when I thought that owning a muscle car would have girls flinging themselves at me. Apparently the woodpeckers method works. That is unless they pick a piece of metal to bang on early in the morning at the home of a shotgun owner.
Woodpeckers also forage for food by tapping at the bark of trees. Another loud and destructive thing they do is tapp deep holes for the storage of food they find.
Well I hope the little guy gets what he's looking for. He's been working hard and he deserves it. Hopefully he won't land on the streetlamp post and find out that his tin roof rusted.
11 comments:
Hey baby, you KNOW it was that muscle car that first caught my attention...didn't hold it long though, so it's a good thing you are good lookin' and have personality coming out your ears!
Very cool picture! You got a sensitive side too?:)
BTW, that den mother comment had nothing to do with age, right? Because I hope I am still a young chick, at ultras and in general:)
Sorry, I am a slow reader.
Olga,
So do you think my wife would let me run with you if I started calling you the ULTRA RUNNER HOT CHICK? No I think not. Besides, despite your young age you do a wonderful job of watching out for us and motivating us.
So hopefully you will wear "Den Mother" as a badge of pride. If you don't like it I'll stop.
"Hopefully he won't land on the streetlamp post and find out that his tin roof rusted."
Ba-dum.... *crickets chirping* ...ching.
;)
Meghan
www.running-blogs.com/meghan
So that would explain why I couldn't pick up any hot chicks in my Ford Zephyr!! Now, if I could just get the woodpecker from beating out his love song on the gutter outside my window at 6:45 AM in the morning... and no, I don't own a shotgun. I wonder if they are afraid of .357s?
Wes - I'll mail you my neighbors cat. Just toss it up on your roof and he will go into hunter mode right away. I wonder if one of those Tyvek envelopes would work to ship a cat? I suppose a box would be easier to get him into. If you don't want to risk receiving a dead cat in the mail then perhaps a birdshot shell for your .357 might do the trick. Or you could wait it out till the horny pecker finds a mate :-)
We have one of those who hits on our gutters in the early morning hours. Lucky for him, I only throw pine cones in his direction. It takes about 3 to 4 throws to get him to go away but he always returns the next morning.
Oh well, we all do what we can. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.
I am honored to be a Den Mother...and excited to be a Hot Chick just same. I'll wear both, ok? How is Den Chick? Or Hot Mama?
OK, out of it. I am home today and computer is finally fixed, ya'll in trouble!
Your post came at just the right time because I was really starting to worry about those crazy woodpeckers. Now can you please explain why the robins repeatedly fly into the windows?
Nice post, but I throw rocks at woodpeckers. They bore holes into the side of my house! I've never hit one, just scare them away.
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