啄木鸟在民宅墙内私藏650斤坚果，没想到……

A pest control company in California accidentally pulled 700 pounds of acorns from the walls of a home during a pest inspection.

The exterminator later discovered that a pair of woodpeckers have stored acorns in this house for several years, and now the fruits of the birds’ labor have been cleared.

CNN：啄木鸟在加州一户人家的墙壁内储藏了约650斤橡子

The Sonoma County homeowners called on Nick Castro, owner of Nick’s Extreme Pest Control, when they spotted worms coming from a bedroom wall.

When he cut a hole in the wall to find it, Castro witnessed something he’d never seen in more than 20 years in the business.

Thousands of acorns spilled out of the wall, and more appeared whenever Castro stuck his hand into the hole.

He soon discovered woodpeckers had stored tens of thousands of acorns, which he said weighed roughly 700 pounds, in a wall cavity, likely collected over the past two to five years.

Often woodpeckers store acorns on the outside of homes, sometimes in rain gutters, but rarely do they get them inside. In this case, Castro discovered the birds dropped their treasures through a hole in the chimney and entered the attic through a separate hole to feast on their stash.

Paul Bannick, who has written two books about woodpeckers, said the acorn woodpecker, a species common on the West Coast, often amasses thousands of the nuts for winter. Acorn woodpeckers can drill small holes in almost anything — trees, birdhouses, cabins, houses — to hoard food, he said.

橡树啄木鸟，图源：YouTube@Nature on PBS视频截图

Acorns are vital for the birds’ breeding, Bannick said, because they help female woodpeckers stay plump and healthy throughout the winter.

“It’s a compulsive process,” said Bannick, a director at Conservation Northwest, a Seattle wildlife preservation organization. If the woodpeckers know there are acorns on the ground, “they’re going to collect and store as many as they possibly can.”

橡树啄木鸟，图源：YouTube@Nature on PBS视频截图

It took creating another three holes in the home’s walls to remove all the acorns, which ultimately piled and reached about 20 feet high, Castro estimated.

The acorns were thrown away as they were covered in droppings and bits of fiberglass from the wall’s insulation.

“想象一下当这对啄木鸟发现它们的存粮全都没了时的表情。”

“好难过，鸟儿们毕生的心血就这么没了。”

“这对啄木鸟会在冬天结束后从南方飞回来，结果却发现自己储藏的食物全没了，只好饿肚子。我希望这些人给鸟儿们建一个鸟屋，把橡子放到里面。要是我的话我就会。我有个中等大小的鸟屋。”

“这估计是一对超级没有安全感的啄木鸟吧。可怜的家伙！不过，没准是它们发现往烟囱下扔一颗橡子会掉下去吃不到，直到填满墙就能吃到了！”