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Show March 1 03.qxd 12/7/2021 Volume VII Issue X 3:40 PM Page 11 THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 11 March 1, 2003 Woodpecker’s, How to Live With ‘em and Still Love’em By Bill Fenimore, Layton Wild Bird Center I awaken from my slumber with my wife elbowing me in the side. “Get up, somebody’s knocking at the door,” she tells me. It’s 5:00 o’clock in the morning. I get up and march to the front door, thinking, who in the world is knocking on my door at 5:00 a.m.? I’m not going fishing. Opening the door, I can see that no one is there. Marching back to the bedroom, I begin to hear the knocking again. This time it sounds like they have climbed to the roof and are beating on a metal drum. What kind of lunatic is this? It dawns on me, it’s old “Woody” of course, the neighborhood percussionist greeting the dawn with a drum roll. I step outside and glance at the stack from our wood burning stove. Sure enough, a Northern Flicker is perched on top of the metal stack, tapping away. A wood pecker pounding on the side of your house or on a metal vent cap at 5:00 a.m., or any other time, can be quite annoying and also result in some expensive repairs to the wood or stucco siding on your house. The Wild Bird Center of Layton has put together some suggestions that you might try, to keep the woodpeckers from attempting to move into your house. Our suggestions may work, and they may not. Try the easy ones first, you may get lucky. Before you resort to violence however, remember that there is no open season on woodpeckers. They are protected by the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Why Do Woodpeckers Peck? Three Reasons: They are trying to establish territories and attract mates. This predominantly springtime behavior, called drumming, generally is done in rapid succession on resonant dead tree trunks or limbs. However, buildings and utility poles, when available, are often alternatives. Drumming may occur a number of times during a single day, and may last for some days or months. Often, the drumming begins about the same time each day. The male drums to let other males know this is his territory and for them to keep out. He is also sending another message to females; he is ready to greet them and set up housekeeping. They are looking for food. They naturally search vertical surfaces of tree trunks and branches for wood boring beetles, carpenter ants, and other insects. The pecking style used for feeding is much different than drumming. Only a few pecks are made and then the resulting hole is explored with the bird’s bill and tongue. This behavior will continue until an insect is found or the bird is satisfied that one is not there. Then the woodpecker may hop a few inches away and peck at another place. The damage from this feeding activity usually occurs in horizontal lines that follow tunnels made by the insects. They are excavating a nest cavity. This is usually done on a dead tree or broken snag. An attack of this kind on the side of a house is not very common. How Can I Get Them To Stop Pecking On My House? 4 Ways: Give them a good scare. At the first sign of woodpecker activity on your house, woodpeckers can often be scared away by making noises at a nearby window or against the adjacent inside wall. Hang strips of foil, fabric or use the reflective Mylar strips that you see decorating balloon bouquets (available in craft stores). Try commercially available bird netting hung from the eaves to deter the birds (available at nurseries). Other scare tactics include placing hawk or owl cutouts on the house, hanging balloons in the area, a child’s pinwheel, flash tape, strings of shiny, noisy tin can lids, wind chimes and/or pulsating water sprinklers. Some of our customers have had success with our outdoor spinners and dream catchers. Woodpeckers can be very persistent and are not easily driven from their territories or selected pecking sites. For this reason, visual or sound types of repellents should be employed as soon as the problem is identified and before territories are well established. Create a barrier between the woodpecker and the house. If scare tactics don’t work, create a physical barrier by screening the drumming site with hardware cloth, sheet metal, or nylon bird netting. Netting is one of the most effective methods of excluding woodpeckers. A mesh of 3/4” is usually recommended. At least 3” of space should be left between the netting and the damaged building so that birds cannot cause damage through the netting. Give them something else to peck on. It might work to provide an alternative drumming site by nailing two boards together at just one end and hanging on a secure surface. If you have dead trees in your yard, you might think removing them and the insects they harbor would solve your woodpecker problems. Again, the opposite may be true. Cutting down dead and decaying trees deprives the birds of nesting, drumming and food sites and may force them to take a look at your house. Lure the woodpecker from your home onto a Nest Box. No, don’t get your shotgun and start blasting away, as tempting as this may be. Federal law protects them. Erect a Nest Box for the bird to excavate in a suitable spot away from the house. You can build a nest box as a project or buy one already assembled with dimensions suitable for woodpeckers. The Wild Bird Center has free plans for “do it yourself” projects, as well as nest boxes already assembled for sale. Fill the box with wood chips, so the woodpecker excavates it. This will enable him to claim it as his own, showing his mate he can provide for her. Note: The Layton Wild Bird Center is the retirement business of Bill Fenimore. He is a life long birder, volunteer Naturalist at Farmington Bay Migratory Waterfowl Management Area, Board Member of the Ogden Nature Center, active Audubon member and past Board Member of the Wasatch Audubon Society, planning committee member for the Great Salt Lake Birding Festival and environmental representative of the Coordinated Resource Committee of Rich County. Bill leads free Nature/Bird Walks from the Layton, Wild Bird Center each Saturday morning. See Calendar of Events on page 14 for dates and times of the Layton Wild Nature/Bird Center Walks. An Inside Look at Bush’s Bold Tax Plan Logan, Utah — In early January, President Bush proposed a $674 billion tax-cut package aimed at eliminating the federal taxation of corporate dividends, and accelerating income tax breaks for many of the nation’s workers. While the president contends that these measures will lead to “growth and jobs,” others argue that the package is too costly and provides little short-term relief for lowerand middle-income earners. A closer look at the president’s plan, as well as counterproposals, might give you a better idea of what to expect from potential taxlaw changes. Taxpayers Get Another Break Determined to jumpstart a sluggish economy, President Bush surprised legislators by unveiling a stimulus package that was nearly double the size many had anticipated. The plan outlines a number of tax-cutting measures, perhaps the most aggressive of which is the elimination of federal taxes on dividends and capital gains resulting from qualified retained earnings. The measure is expected to return about $20 billion to the private economy in 2003 alone. It could also provide a much-needed boost for the stock market. Another significant leg of the Bush plan calls for the acceleration of income tax cuts that were initially scheduled to occur in 2004 and 2006. Under the proposal, about 92 million taxpayers could expect to receive an average tax reduction of $1,083 in 2003. Parents and married couples would enjoy additional tax breaks. The plan increases the child tax credit to $1,000 per child each year (from the current $600) and accelerates the elimination of the marriage penalty tax. According to presidential advisers, Bush’s plan is expected to create 2.1 million jobs over the next three years—not only through added consumer spending, but also through tax incentives to small businesses. Under the plan, small businesses would be able to write off $75,000 worth of equip- ment purchases immediately, up from the current $25,000. Opposition Weighs In Even though both parties favor a tax cut, opponents of the president’s proposal say it is far too costly and concentrates on the wealthy. House Democrats have proposed their own stimulus package—a $136 billion plan that promises a tax rebate of about $300 for every worker ($600 for married couples) in 2003. Their plan would also extend unemployment insurance and benefit small businesses by boosting the temporary bonus write-off to 50%, up from 30% today. Leading Senate Democrats have promoted the idea of a payroll tax break or “tax holiday” for all workers in 2003. Other ideas include eliminating taxes on the first $3,000 of wages earned in 2003. These plans aim at generating a short-term economic stimulus and providing cash to all income earners, including those who do not make enough money to pay income taxes. The fact that President Bush’s plan has met opposition on Capitol Hill suggests that some compromise will be necessary before a tax cut becomes law. The White House is hoping to see legislation passed no later than April 15, the tax-filing deadline for most Americans. Debate on the issue is sure to heat up as the deadline approaches. Note: Jeff Salisbury is a financial educator. He can be reached at Jeff.Salisbury@WallStreet-LLC.com. For more information, see http://WallStreetLLC.com/Investors_Advocate.pdf Mr. Salisbury is recognized as a leading financial educator and author. His workshops and seminars have been widely attended. He has lectured at Utah State University. Mr. Salisbury graduated Summa Cum Laude with departmental honors from Weber State University with a Bachelors degree in Mathematics, and a Masters degree in Physics from the University of Utah. MASSAGE THERAPY Swedish Deep Tissue Sports Injury Trigger Point Richard Smyka Licensed Massage Therapist 745-0108 gift certificates available Conveniently Located at Harper Rocky Mountain Chiropractic (Next to Valley Market) Call for appointment. Out-call available. 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