Claysmom, perhaps your son would be interested in making his property a Certified Wildlife Habitat? This is easier than most people might think. You just need to provide food, shelter and water for various types of animals. You can Google it and read all about the requirements online, and even print out an application for the official certification. Nicki's city yard is certified, so even those without rural property can qualify. I encourage everyone who is interested to check it out. (If I can managed to stay on the computer long enough, I'll see if I can find the link, but I'm having some unanticipated difficulties from my foot surgery, and won't be here very long.) Glad you guys enjoyed seeing this old post pop up again. I do love these birds, and am happy it was of interest to you. Marcia

Not only do woodpeckers drill holes into trees to obtain insects, but to excavate dwellings. They may decide to do this to what appears to be a healthy tree. I generally think of a woodpecker's busy activity around a tree as a sign that the tree is seriously infested with wood boring insects. Trees cannot live with that kind of invasion for very long and there isn't anything you can do at that point. As far as the large holes are concerned, there is nothing you can do that will help your tree: filling the holes will do nothing to help, there is no spray you can use. I am afraid that this is just part of Nature's living classroom, perhaps a great learning experience for you. Duckwatcher's advice about scaring them off is good, and that is about your only tactic in this situation.

Small update: I was out at dusk doing some last minute watering and debating on which pots to bring under the porch in case there was a light frost. I thought the little guy would've been asleep, but apparently my noises woke him up and he sat on the broken branch over his hole to watch me for a good 15 minutes, taking occasional flights over to some sycamores (he's flipping off pieces of bark, apparently for a before-bed snack). However, when he finally flew back into his nest, I could hear the chatter of TWO birds. Look's like he's found his significant other. Now I can't wait for the eventual little feathery fuzzballs in awhile. I'll try to buy a suet feeder this weekend if I can remember.

too bad you didnt see this when you cleaned up those thousand bags of leaves in fall ... lol ... there is never any hurry when dealing with minor tree issues [as say this thing hanging at a 60 degree angle over the house ...].... once it leafs out.. and you get a srping storm.. and you can find a few leaves on the ground.. should be soon enough ... get us some pix.. we can Id.. and move on from there... no one else cares about the 45 degree undulations??? .. perhaps that is normal also ... i also wonder about a shot gun.. or BB gun ... also ... I THINK ... leaking sap can be a normal reaction and usually not all that big a deal .. in the long run ... sorta like its cleaning out the wound.. and once it clogs from the sap.. it can begin to heal ... of cource it can mean other things .... trees grow.. live.. react in slow motion .... it will be great to get an answer within the next year on this ... ken