Red, the woodpecker, was puzzled. It had been a hot summer’s
day, and he was minding his own business, making a house, when an outrageous
noise had come out of nowhere and drove him off.
He couldn’t understand. He hadn’t been
bothering anyone. Still grumbling to himself, he landed on a tree in a park. He
looked down on the paths. There were people jogging, walking their dogs,
bicycling, etc.
It was busy, but he
thought that because it was noisy nobody would notice if he drilled a hole in
this tree for his family. So, he started drilling a hole in the tree. He was
part way done when a park caretaker saw what was going on. Normally, it was
okay for woodpeckers to build homes in the park trees. But that particular tree
was rare and was having trouble growing in the environment. If it had too much
damage it would die. So, the caretaker shooed Red away. This made Red even more
upset. All he needed was a home for his family, but no one would let him build
one! Squawking at the caretaker, he flew away and found a new tree in the yard
of someone’s house. He started drilling incredibly quickly, so that he would be
done before anyone noticed. Hearing the noise, a little boy came out of the
house. He saw Red and ran back inside. He came out dragging his mother and
pointing at the tree. She looked, and smiled. She and the boy went inside then
came out with mealworms for Red to eat. Red watched them suspiciously as they
placed them in a tray on the fence. They went back inside and watched through
the window. Red completed the home for his family. He then flew down and took some
of the worms to his nest to eat. He then left, and got his mate. She inspected
the hole. Nodding agreeably, she went inside happy to find a gift of food. The
next spring, there were three baby woodpeckers learning to fly in the yard.
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