The revival of woodpeckers in the British countryside is one of the great conservation success stories of recent years.
But their rise in numbers has endangered another feature of the landscape – electricity poles.
Great spotted woodpeckers are putting the safety of power lines at risk by drilling holes in the wooden poles that support them.
The revival of woodpeckers in the British countryside is one of the great conservation success stories of recent years
And now a power company has come up with a novel solution by spraying the structures with a fragrance that repels the birds.
Around 6,000 wooden poles in Kent and East Anglia alone have been badly damaged by the birds, who peck holes to create nests and to forage for food.
These holes damage the poles to such an extent that they can collapse, putting passers-by and workers at risk, and placing power supplies in jeopardy.
Now UK Power Networks are conducting tests of a new wood filler which contains a fragrance that repels woodpeckers.
Woodpeckers often return to places where they have already pecked holes to hunt for food such as insects and worms.
So filling up the holes made in electricity poles with the filler is a safe and environmentally friendly way of encouraging them to look elsewhere, the company said.
The method has already been extensively used near Brighton, East Sussex to prevent the need to replace wooden poles.
Woodpeckers are protected by law, so engineers are instructed never to disturb a nest if eggs or young are present, UK Power Networks said.
But their rise in numbers has endangered another feature of the landscape – electricity poles
Great spotted woodpeckers have seen their numbers rise 136 per cent in the last 20 years, while green woodpecker numbers are up by 31 per cent, figures from the British Trust for Ornithology show.
Ian Cameron, head of innovation at UK Power Networks said: ‘We’ve noticed an increase in the number of our poles that had to be replaced
because of woodpecker damage resulting in loss of power for our customers, so we researched how we could do something about it before it becomes a big problem.
‘We trialled a new product developed in the United States that fills the holes and emits a harmless scent to persuade woodpeckers to pick a more suitable home.
‘We think it’s a perfect way of ensuring that we’re keeping our ustomers’ lights on while respecting the wildlife population.’
The problem is a UK-wide one. Last year in Oban, Scotland 25 poles would had to be replaced along a 20 mile because of woodpecker damage.
Attempts to prevent woodpeckers – which is an even bigger problem in the US where the cost to utilities is put in millions of dollars – have included painting poles different colours, covering them with wire mesh and creating wooden snake and owl decoys to scare off the birds, as well as sonic scaring devices.
But until recently there was no known effective chemical repellant.