---
title: "Angry Woodpecker Responsible for Rash of Car Vandalism Complaints Outside Atlanta"
description: "Witnesses claim the woodpecker was laughing maniacally as it flew away."
date: "2017-10-26"
modified: "2017-10-26"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/15492/angry-woodpecker-responsible-for-rash-of-car-vandalism-complaints-outside-atlanta"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "atlanta"
  - "birds"
  - "police"
  - "woodpecker"
---

# Angry Woodpecker Responsible for Rash of Car Vandalism Complaints Outside Atlanta

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/10/gettyimages-866723764.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

It's one of the most maddening experiences as a car owner. You head outside to start your day, only to discover that your car has been [mysteriously damaged](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/13891/new-jersey-police-searching-for-man-who-slashed-52-tires-on-police-fire-vehicles>) overnight. Was it a [hit-and-run?](<https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/14362/watch-this-hit-and-run-driver-get-into-a-another-accident-while-being-chased>) Bored [teenage vandal?](<https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/12705/police-searching-for-two-idiots-who-recorded-themselves-vandalizing-a-bunch-of-cars>) For the frustrated residents of Gwinnett County, Georgia, the answer turned out to be [a little more wild](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/14948/leopard-caught-in-indias-largest-car-factory-after-36-hour-chase>) than either of those usual suspects: A woodpecker with a grudge.

[According to *WSB-TV*,](<https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/gwinnett-county/woodpecker-blamed-for-dozens-of-broken-car-mirrors/629253654>) dozens of people living in the town of Snellville reported finding the side mirrors on their cars smashed to pieces. The vandal seemed to target the mirrors at all hours of the day, leaving police to wonder whether the culprit was in fact a kid with a BB gun, striking from the shadows. In response to all this, Snellville Police actually sent more patrols through the affected neighborhoods to flush the suspect out.

It's easy to poke fun at a few cops staking out a civilian's car and waiting for a mysterious figure to show up and bust a mirror, but the sheer number of damaged cars probably convinced officers that they were dealing with a serial vandal, one who could possibly graduate to more serious crimes.

https://youtube.com/embed/lRQteibjb-E

Thankfully, that turned out not to be the case. After replacing the mirrors on both his and his wife's cars, this weekend, area resident John Hancock [caught a pileated woodpecker](<https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/gwinnett-county/woodpecker-blamed-for-dozens-of-broken-car-mirrors/629253654>) "red-headed" as it came back to attack again.

![sPwgpLj.gif](<https://i.imgur.com/sPwgpLj.gif>)
**GIPHY**

About the size of a crow, pileated woodpeckers are extremely territorial birds. Experts say the specimen in question probably mistook its reflection in the mirror for another woodpecker and attacked—over and over and over again.

Since it's also a protected species, residents can't trap, shoot, or harm the bird in any way, resorting instead to covering their side mirrors with plastic bags until it moves on. As usual, the woodpecker gets the last laugh.

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)