A woman in Maine managed to catch a pleated woodpecker drilling into her tree, filming the huge cavity that the bird managed to create. She claimed that the bird, while beautiful, was destroying her tree, but the internet sided with the animal, with a follow-up adding some necessary context: it appears that the tree was infested with bugs.
The clip was shared by TikTok user That Language Teacher. As her name suggests, she is a middle school teacher whose content revolves around he profession, lifestyle, and family. The woodpecker clip, however, became her biggest ever, garnering 7.7 million views, 348,700 likes, and 14,700 comments.
The Maine woman disclosed, from the get-go, that the woodpecker she was filming was “absolutely beautiful.” Still, she felt aggravated, saying that the bird was “destroying” her tree. A close-up of the pleated woodpecker shows him drilling into the tree trunk, taking out chunks of wood, and leaving them on the surrounding grass.
“I’m wondering if I should stop him,” the middle school teacher said. “He’s gonna ruin it. He already did it to two other spots as well. He’s beautiful, though. Huge.”
The woman then approached the woodpecker and jokingly confronted him for “destroying” her tree. Initially, the bird appeared to be oblivious to the woman’s presence, almost like it was deliberately ignoring her. Eventually, as the woman drew closer, the woodpecker flew away.
In a follow-up clip, the woman showed the giant cavity that the woodpecker left. Responding to some comments from the original video, she agreed that the tree appeared to be “dying a slow death,” and also showed some small holes in the trunk. Some pointed out that these might have been caused by a bug infestation.
‘Nature Does Not Destroy Nature’
The woodpecker and the resulting cavity sparked multiple responses online.
Some users took issue with the Maine woman’s statement about how the bird was “destroying her tree.” One viewer said, “That’s his job, and that’s not your tree.” Another one commented, “Nature does not destroy nature.”
Others, as mentioned above, believed that there was something wrong with the teacher’s tree. One wrote, “Bird telling you your tree is rotten!” Another one added, “Your tree could very well be infested with bugs. They don’t attack healthy trees. He is digging for insects.”
That Language Teacher has not issued an update regarding her tree. Given that her husband has been wanting to take it down for a while, this might be the thing that actually pushes them to do so.
