Are Carpenter Ants Moving In?
Carpenter ants and termites have a lot in common. The main one is that they can do a lot of damage to the wood of your home. What is worse is that this damage can eventually lead to issues with structural integrity if left unchecked. Unlike termites, however ants do not actually ingest the wood that they chew on. Rather, carpenter ants are simply crafting tunnels using their mandibles. This tunneling action actually leaves behind a pretty good hint that you may have a carpenter ant issue. If you find spots where sawdust seems to have gathered for no reason, it may be that it is coming from carpenter ant excavations.
Like other ants, a carpenter ant colony can be anywhere from just a few dozen individuals to a few million. The larger the colony gets, the more likely you will be to notice it, though carpenter ants are still very hard to spot. This is simply because most of their time is spent within their tunnels. They venture out for things such as food, but if they have not yet discovered the food in your house and have access to the outdoors, you still may not see them.
If you have seen ants in your house, don’t immediately grab a can of bug spray. While this is the initial reaction that most people have, it is not the wisest. This is because the ants you see are worker ants. Kill a dozen of them, and they will soon be replaced. The queen is the one that needs to be taken care of, as she is the one providing the rest of the ants.
In addition to this, if the ants deem a location unsafe, they will not travel there anymore. At the moment, you may have the only link to the nest, but by spraying you will force them to go elsewhere. This can actually mean spreading the colony over a much larger area. This is especially true if the spray you intend to use has repellent properties. You may not see any more ants, but they are far from gone.
Because of the difficulty in locating and treating a carpenter ant infestation, professional help is your best choice. This is because the technicians are trained in how to locate nests, identify colony sizes, and then provide the most effective treatments possible. They also won’t use pesticide sprays if they don’t need to. Pest control companies today know better – they use more effective techniques that make treating the problem safer for families and pets.
Even better, they can provide follow-up services so you can be absolutely certain that the issue has been taken care of. They can give you tips and ideas on how to make sure pests don’t come back into your home, and if they see anything that might attract a different pest, they will be certain to point it out. Prevention is the best method of keeping your home pest-free.
