We all know how much damage termites can cause to the wooden structure and stability of a home; but did you know that carpenter ants can cause significant damage too?
Carpenter ants are social insects that create colonies outdoors. While they look for food and water around yards, they find their way into homes through cracks and holes in foundations, walls, vents, and screens. Once these ants have entered your home, they seek out areas of moisture and water damaged wood. Carpenter ants have strong mandibles that they use to chew through wood to make tunnels. In addition to their main colony, they will usually create satellite colonies inside and out. If they are left to their own devices, they can grow in numbers and will cause significant damage to your home. These damages can become difficult to repair and costly to replace.
Here are the signs that you may have a carpenter ant problem:
- Large ants crawling around that are up to 1/2” long, black, red, or a combination of these colors. They have segmented bodies that are oval (pinched waist), 6 legs, and antennae.
- Winged ants coming from ceilings and walls, or discarded piles of wings under windows or doors.
- Piles of sawdust around or under wood.
- Rustling sounds from behind the walls of your home.
Carpenter ants are chewing up wood and spitting it out, making tunnels to get to food and for their nesting sites for their new additions. Also, you should note that they are not really interested in biting you, but if you should disturb or threaten them, they can use their strong mandibles to bite, causing quite a pinch!
In general, it’s difficult to get rid of carpenter ants on your own. They have multiple colonies that you can’t find, which means once you think you have gotten rid of them all, they reappear from other colonies. And, their nests are typically deep inside wall voids where DIY products typically cannot reach.
Getting rid of entire colonies of carpenter ants requires help from an experienced pest control service. The experts at Spencer Pest Service have the experience, tools, and training to get rid of all of your carpenter ants and to prevent them from ever coming back.
When carpenter ants invade, or any other pest for that matter, be sure to call the professionals here at Spencer Pest Services. We will quickly eliminate pests from your home or business; we guarantee it!
