How To LEGALLY #UnAlive a Woodpecker

When hazing, deterrent, and exclusion techniques are not working to rid your home of destructive woodpeckers, the next available option may be lethal control. 

In the United States, woodpeckers are FEDERALLY protected birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. You can not kill a woodpecker, it’s young, or disturb a woodpecker nest with eggs in it without a permit from US Fish and Wildlife Service. 

The process to obtain that permit can be time consuming and leave you waiting for weeks. We had one recent client that waited almost 6 days just to get an email confirming the permit being received and it took almost a week and a half after that for a determination. 

This article will help you go step by step in the process of applying for, and hopefully receiving approval for a depredation permit.

Before you apply for a permit, you need to have made a strong effort using non lethal methods to resolve your problem. Those non lethal methods could be as cost effective as hanging some old CDs by fishing wire near the woodpecker activity, or as involved as hiring a nuisance wildlife control operator (NWCO) to use professional level deterrents, hazing, and exclusion methods. Regardless of what non lethal methods you use, you will need to have a record of the attempts. That could be pictures, an informal journal/diary of activity, the invoice from the wildlife operator, or a combination of many of those. 

Once the non lethal methods have been attempted and proven unsuccessful, only then will you start the process of applying for a depredation permit. Having a record of non lethal attempts to resolve your woodpecker issue is going to be necessary in acquiring an approval from US Fish and Wildlife Service for a permit to “take” (read: kill) a woodpecker.

The first step is to reach out to the USDA APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) offices, specifically Wildlife Services (https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/wildlifedamage/contact-ws). On their website you can search for specific offices for your state and have the contact information you need to reach the state USDA biologist. You will need to politely ask the biologist to issue you a “WS Form 37”. The biologist is going to ask you the species of woodpecker (is it a pileated, downy, red bellied?), how many woodpeckers are causing damage, is there an active nest, are there eggs or young in the nest, they are going to ask you what damage the animal has done to the property, and they will ask you what measures you have taken to attempt non lethal control (this the first time where the records of your prior attempts is needed). Many of these answers are not easy for a member of the general public to know, so it may be worthwhile if you have not already hired a NWCO to call one to perform an inspection for you so you have these answers.

If the USDA biologist is satisfied with your answers, and you were courteous and polite to them, they will likely issue you a “WS Form 37”.

Once you have your WS Form 37 and your record of attempted non lethal control methods, it is now time for you to file for the depredation permit with US Fish and Wildlife Service at https://fwsepermits.servicenowservices.com/fws/?id=fws_kb_view&sys_id=04ca59181bff14104fa520eae54bcb47 . 

Once on that site you will need to click on the “download digital form (section E)” button on the page and fill out the Section E form on your phone, computer, or tablet. At the writing of this article the Section E form is not well optimized for mobile and we recommend going through your computer if possible.

The first question on the form is where you make sure you have all of your documents, this includes the WS Form 37 from the USDA biologist, proof of damage (pictures or inspection report), and proof of non lethal attempts.

The second question is asking for any state or tribal permits that may be required. You may need to contact your state level wildlife organization such as “Fish and Game” or “Division of Wildlife” or “Department of Natural Resources” depending on what your state call it, to determine is state level permits are necessary.

The third question is going to ask about specific details about where and what is being damaged. Be as detailed as possible including things such as “north side second story” or “western property line” when describing where the damage is on the property. This area is not where you describe your control methods attempted. This is only to describe the damage done.

Question four asks for the physical location. It does ask for the latitude and longitude which is easy to acquire if you put your address into google maps, and then right click on the red icom and it will give you the GPS coordinates for that address.

The fifth question is you describing how you plan on “taking”, and disposing of the animal(s). This is something I recommend consulting your local wildlife officer or a licensed NWCO for assistance in determining the methods of take you will be using.

Question 6 is the second place you will use your records of non lethal attempts at control where you describe the prior efforts you made at managing the woodpecker issue.

In my opinion question 7 is a bit snarky and condescending. This is where you need to placate the animal rights lobby and describe how you plan on “not letting this happen on your property again”. Again, be polite and respectful in your answer here, even if the question irritates you.

Question 8 and 9 are self explanatory, and question 10 is where you would list if you were hiring a NWCO to do the trapping work, questions 11 and 15 are also self explanatory.

What about questions 12-14… not sure… government forms are funny sometimes, but question 11 is three parts so it may be just poor proofreading.

After you are done filling out the questionaire part of the form, then you move on to the “Take Request Table”. This table will be filled out with the information on your WS Form 37. Do not deviate from the Form 37 as it will cause your application to be denied. I am not sure why this table needs to be filled out when all of that info is already on the WS Form 37, but I assume it is the same reason you have to fill out an application for a job AND provide a resume.

Once the Section E form is completed, then you go back to the US Fish and Wildlife Service page and click on the “Start Application Online”. You will need to create a user account, and then follow the prompts in uploading the WS Form 37, Section E Form, and any supporting documents. You pay your $110 application fee, and you wait. 

Some point between 3 days and 3 weeks, US Fish and Wildlife Service will email you their determination and if approved, a copy of your depredation permit. Follow that permit to the note. Do not deviate and make sure to do EVERYTHING entailed in it, including the reporting requirements after the work has been completed.

So, after reading all of this you may be asking, can’t I just hire a NWCO like Huntsman Wiflife to do all of this for me? The answer is “kinda”. 

We can ASSIST you with collecting the materials needed for acquiring a WS Form 37, and we can ASSIST you in filling out the Section E form and completing the online permit application, but the property owner needs to be the one making the calls, submitting the forms, and paying the fee. The only part NWCOs are allowed to do on their own is the trapping and disposal once the permits have been approved.

If you need assistance or want our help, we are happy to be of service, just click on the contact us page and fill out our online form.

Least thing before I go… if you notice, I mention multiple times in this article to be polite and respectful to the government employees you are dealing with at APHIS/Wildlife Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service. This is because there is no law REQUIRING them to approve your permit and I have heard rumors of people being rude or condescending and not being approved. Was it because the government employee was retaliating, or was there an actual valid reason for the application being denied? Who knows. But if it were my house, I would not want to risk it.

Till next time… see ya folks.