Photo: Kendall Buhl/WBZ NewsRadio
ROCKPORT, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) – Residents in Rockport are dealing with an incessant vandal.
The assailant damaged several cars around the neighborhood, mainly the mirrors and windshields, before its identity was revealed.
"18 to 24 inches tall, wearing black and white with a red hat."
That's the description Rockport resident Janelle Favaloro gave on social media when her son alerted her that the suspect was a woodpecker.
"At first my husband was like, I don't know what happened to my mirror. I don't remember hitting anything. And one day, my son looked over, we have a pickup truck, and he was in the process of breaking the mirror," said Favaloro.
As confused residents racked their brains to figure out the motivation behind the culprit's attacks, the reason became very clear — mating season. Male woodpeckers drum on resonant surfaces like cars to attract mates. And in some cases, when they assume their reflection is competition, then your car mirrors are in big trouble.
Now neighbors are taking extra precautions to protect their car mirrors, wrapping them in trash bags and folding them inward every day to avoid the woodpecker's wrath.
WBZ NewsRadio's Kendall Buhl (@WBZKendall) reports.