As I understand it, from our department of Wildlife, the woodpecker is a protected species so you have to let them eat your trees, your house and the dog houses. I tried decoys, insecticides, screens, everything. When I went back to the Dept. of Wildlife the fellow smiled and said something like, "I dont think you heard me sir. Those birds are unrelenting. They will not stop until they have killed your tree, put holes in your house and made life very miserable. And, it is illegal to shoot them. If you get caught you could go to jail. If you try to be quiet about it with a pellet gun no one will hear you but you still might get caught. I already told you this last time you were here but I don't think you understood what I was saying. As an officer of the law I cannot tell you to break the law. I am telling you what the law is and I am not recommending that you go buy a pellet gun. Wal Mart has the best prices but you can't use them for the purpose we are discussing." "Oh," said and left. End of story. Dave ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2006. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - URL temporarily deleted due to AOL issues ============================================================================