# Possible bird damage ??



## Myvalk99 (Mar 16, 2020)

Does anybody have any idea what could possibly be doing this damage on my shed. It’s on all four corners. I have enclosed the four corner pictures.


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## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

My guess would be squirrels.


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## Steve2444 (Sep 28, 2020)

joed said:


> My guess would be squirrels.


I've never seen that kind of damage, not even from squirrels, but if I had to guess I would agree with squirrels teething.


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Do those soffit panels lift up enough that a squirrel could push his way in?

I suspect squirrels also and suspect they are getting into the attic or what ever is in there.

Bud


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## John Smith_inFL (Jun 15, 2018)

have you seen or heard the Pileated Woodpecker in your area ?
I've seen damage like that from those birds that are after carpenter bee larvae in the wood.
they can destroy soft wood in a very short time. (just a guess)


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## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

It looks like gnawing to me. Squirrels, porcupine, etc. Possibly bats but I doubt it. Woodpeckers, sapsuckers, etc. will leave beak marks, usually round. Any Pileated damage I have seen will leave a pile of wood chips on the ground as they use their beaks to pry off wood to give them deeper access and you end up with big holes.


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## Missouri Bound (Apr 9, 2011)

I have a bird feeder and bird bath on the upper deck of my home.
The squirrels climb the door jamb below the deck to get there.
The also chew the railing the bird bath is on.
Your damage looks very familiar.


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## Brook38 (Apr 7, 2021)

You can't rule out badgers. If you find any dung pits or digging marks below the fences, then it's clear that the badgers damaged your shed.


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## Domo (Nov 9, 2018)

If the soffit can be pushed up anywhere in that vicinity I'd suspect rats or bats. To me it doesn't quite look like beak exploration in the wood.

I recently found a spot under and eave where a local feral cat would get on the roof (tearing up our screen porch) and get into the attic. Fixed it once, but worked on it twice (do the math). I didn't know it was a cat until I affixed a large rat glue trap near the pushed up soffit and then found some fur and a paw print in the glue. (In the middle of one night there was a freaked out commotion on the roof, along the gutter and down to the ground - it was the cat dislodging itself from the glue trap.)

I don't see any residual fur/hair or feathers in the locality (perhaps on the ground - so, I'd buy some glue traps and see what the critter leaves behind and then plan accordingly.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

It does look like cat, except that the cat would have to stand on something. I have a cat named Minki, AKA Shredder. If need be, I'm sure he could get us out of a locked house.They stretch as tall as they can to scratch. It leaves a message to other cats. Any cougars around? Just kidding, I hope. Did they catch that tiger?

There are some good sites of photos of animal marks in wood on the Internet.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

.


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Brook38 said:


> You can't rule out badgers. If you find any dung pits or digging marks below the fences, then it's clear that the badgers damaged your shed.



Wow, @Myvalk99 that is freaky!

It's too high and much much too extensive to be cats. Cats just give a token scratch, and make marks. Badgers are burrowing ground dwellers.

That wood looks very compromised, like it's been rotten for a while. Maybe replace it and keep an eye and see what happens?

I'm certainly curious.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

DoomsDave said:


> Cats just give a token scratch, and make marks.


Not mine! Their work looks just like that. But, there may be more Wildcat in mine.


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