strange siding damage
 

Several years ago I made some shutters for the cabin with a pine-tree motif and put them up on the house. just this week, something - a bird or insect presumably - has tried to bore into the house siding (60 year old pine novelty siding) within the pine-tree-shaped cutout feature of the shutters. The holes are 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter and 1/4" to 1/2" deep. they are seen within three different shutter cut-outs, and nowhere else on the house. if it makes a difference, all three locations are on the southeast side of the building.

So - does anyone recognize this type of damage, why would it only be within this feature of my shutters, and most importantly: how do I put a stop to it? thanks for any advice

http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/...mc/damage2.jpg
http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/...mc/damage1.jpg

looks somewhat like the damage a woodpecker did to my garage

Looks like a woodpecker to me too.

Same here ... did it to my barn .. just after we painted it red..

http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/...mc/damage2.jpg

Those marks looks suspiciously like a Red Squirrel's been chewing on your house! When they have nothing else to do, they gnaw at tree limbs and cut down desirable saplings. :mad:

Do those marks appear like a small pair of teeth were dragged across the surface?

I was saving the below photograph for a discussion of Chickadee bird houses; however, the chewing at the bottom of the entry—especially—looks similar to your photo above. Since Red Squirrels have gnawed at the aluminum reinforcement plate—as indicated—I'm not sure I have a preventative for you; however, window screening is the one surface Red Squirrels haven't attempted entry to our cottage.

thanks for the replies
 

no sign of chewing - just pecking or boring. if it is indeed a woodpecker, then it must be using the cut-out in the shutter as a perch, explaining why it is happening only in the shutter area. I dont believe i have an insect problem within the house structure, so what the heck is it doing? for those who have had this problem - did it just stop or did you take some action to get rid of the bird? thx

Tom the only thing I've heard that causes this is woodpeckers trying to get at bugs, but it does also look like it might be a squirrel trying to carve out a new home.
You may have a bug problem that you do not know about.
Try putting some tabasco sauce on the effected areas and see it it stops.
A squirrel might move on while a woodpecker will just peck at another spot.
Woodpeckers do a lot of damage to healthy trees looking for bugs.
My father in law who lives in VT shoots them on site.

The problem is you made those shutters look too much like a real tree.Ill go with woodpecker.I had dozens of woodpecker holes in my former cedar siding.There was no perch and no rhyme or reason to where the holes were drilled.