Watch Woodpecker Destroy Hidden Camera One Obnoxious Peck At A Time

You've probably seen or heard a woodpecker in action at some point; they're the small birds that can spend hours driving everyone in the vicinity to madness with incessant taps against trees or wood buildings. What you probably haven't seen is what it looks like to be the object subjected to the woodpecker's wrath — until now, that is.

A newly published video was captured in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, at the Nizhne-Svirsky Nature Reserve where staff had placed a wildlife camera. According to the team, the camera was designed to resemble tree bark so that it would blend in with the surrounding environment and wouldn't attract the attention of nearby wildlife.

That plan didn't, well, go exactly as planned as a woodpecker soon scoped out the camera and, seemingly recognizing that it was something other than tree bark, spent several days pecking at the device. We get a direct look at what it's like to be the victim of a woodpecker, a unique perspective as interesting as seeing hummingbirds fly in slow motion.

According to staff who shared a short version of the video footage on Facebook, the woodpecker would leave and then return over several days to 'methodically' peck a hole through the disguised camera. The issue was discovered when researchers went into the field to check on the camera and discovered the vandalism.

This isn't the first time a camera has accidentally caught something interesting in nature. Back in early 2019, for example, researchers in San Diego shared a night vision video of a kangaroo rat putting its skills to the test when a snake appeared without warning. The rat was captured on video performing a stunning and effective spin kick against the snake, after which the rodent escaped to safety.