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A coastal Massachusetts town has been under siege by a woodpecker that keeps vandalizing cars by breaking their side mirrors and windshields with its powerful beak. So far, this miscreant bird has damaged at least 25 cars and has led to some residents taking drastic action.
“We have a vandal in the neighborhood,” Rockport resident Janelle Favaloro wrote on social media. “He was described as 18 to 24 inches tall, wearing black and white with a red hat.”
One local resident reported that the pileated woodpecker – the same type that is represented in cartoons by Woody Woodpecker – even attacked his Ford F-350 truck, cracking the window, while he was sitting inside it.
“When it landed on the window, I thought it was my girlfriend tapping on the window,” Mike Foster, 30, who owns a landscaping business, told the New York Times. “I was like, ‘Oh, I’m in trouble.’ It was staring me right in the eyes for a solid 30 seconds.”
Residents know it has been the same bird doing all of the damage due to its size and distinctive red malar stripe along its cheekbone area. Foster said he tried to snap a photo of it, but it took off before he could get his phone camera focused on it. “That woodpecker is looking at 30 years to life right now, I think,” he joked.
“This time of year is mating season, so all birds, not just pileated woodpeckers, but all birds are getting into a very aggressive, territorial courtship display,” Zoo Miami Communications Director Ron Magill told Today. “If they’re seeing the reflection of themselves, they don’t understand it’s a reflection; they think it’s a competitor.”
Janelle Favaloro said a Toyota pickup owned by her brother-in-law was damaged by the woodpecker. Another local resident, Terry Francis, said both mirrors on her husband’s Ram pickup truck were cracked.
“They’re a ferocious bird, and they’re really strong,” Matthew Fuxjager, a co-director of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology graduate program at Brown University, told the Times, adding, “Their testosterone levels are high. They’re very ornery.”
Things have gotten so bad that some residents of Rockport have started folding their mirrors in when the vehicles aren’t in use. Others have started protecting their mirrors with plastic wrap, paper bags or sweaters.
“It’s wildlife, so you can’t really do a whole lot about it,” Favaloro said, then joked, “This is not really the best way to attract a mate. I don’t think the women are going to be impressed.”
Content shared from brobible.com.