The bird had been collecting acorns and placing them inside holes in the siding, apparently intending to store them for later. However, the openings connected to hollow wall cavities, causing the acorns to fall deeper inside the house. The woodpecker kept returning with more, seemingly unaware that much of its carefully collected food was disappearing beyond its reach.
As Castro opened more sections, he discovered that the acorns extended through the walls toward the attic. By the time everything was removed, the stash was estimated at approximately 700 pounds—enough to fill around eight large trash bags. Castro said he had never encountered anything comparable during his decades in pest control.
Rather than harming the woodpecker, the team took a humane approach. The acorns were removed, the holes were patched, and the homeowner planned to install new siding so the bird could no longer use the house as a storage area. What initially appeared to be minor damage from a woodpecker had actually hidden an enormous pantry created one acorn at a time.
