A frantic woodpecker ended a flagpole that had flown the maple leaf in Baie-D’Urfé for decades after constantly piercing the trunk in its pursuit of burrowing insects.
The bird’s bite caused so much damage that it forced authorities to remove the Canadian flag from a 30-meter pole in Berthold Park last week. The area around the ladder is cut off for security reasons.
“It was a remarkable landmark, but the time has come,” said Baie-D’Urfé Coun. Stephen Gruber. “Unfortunately, this is the end of this era.
The pole began to exist as a fir on the west coast of Canada more than 500 years ago.
MacMillan Bloedel and Domtar Ltd. together they donated the ladder as a gift to Baie-D’Urfé and paid for its transportation, according to a history of the city by Thomas R. Lee, mayor of Baie-D’Urfé from 1957 to 1961.
The landmark is one of the tallest flagpoles in Eastern Canada – so long that it took three railroad cars to transport it from British Columbia to Montreal 55 years ago, in time for Canada’s centenary celebrations in 1967.
WATCH The centennial rod of Baie-D’Urfé, ravaged by a stubborn woodpecker
Historic flagpole on the West Island, ravaged by a winged vandal
The future of the 100-year-old Baie-D’Urfé flagship, originally a 500-year-old fir tree, is in jeopardy after attracting the wrong woodpecker. Sarah Leewitt of CBC delves into the story. 1:49
Thank the woodpecker, says the city ecologist
Barbara Fry, a Canadian researcher on urban ecology for the environment and climate change, said residents should thank the woodpecker for warning them of possible insect infestation.
“Maybe we never knew something was going on with the structural integrity of the ladder without this woodpecker doing a show,” she said.
If there are tree insects around, woodpeckers will soon find them. The bird craves bugs, including beetles, ants and termites, and bites only to feed or to dig a nest.
“Otherwise, there’s no reason to spend all that energy to make a hole,” she said. “He grabs quite a few large insects that are inside, bored.”
Equipped with unusually long tongues that wrap around their brains to prevent bite injuries, woodpeckers will feed on bugs when they find them, she said.
Michael Eskenazi, who has lived in Baie-D’Urfé for 31 years, suspects the bird will be disappointed once the flagpole is changed.
“Things are rotting. Things are breaking,” he said. “He’ll have to look elsewhere for food.”
Eskenazi says he is amazed at how much damage a 25-centimeter bird can do, but does not point a finger.
“We share this planet with many beings who have their own habits and we need to be able to live with them, and they need to be able to live with us,” he said.
Gruber said the Baie-D’Urfé council would investigate the extent of the damage before replacing the Christmas tree pole with “something more environmentally friendly”.
“We are not defined by our flagpole,” Gruber said. “The heart of the city is in the community we created here to work together, to support each other.”
“Flag flag or no flagpole, this will continue.”
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