Keep Your Home Safe and Free From Carpenter Ants Invasion
Measuring 1/8 to 1/2 inches, carpenter ants play a very significant role within nature. Carpenter ants break down dead trees even faster compared to wood, which is free of such ants. Because of this, these insects are considered as the “nature’s recyclers”. These tiny creatures create their own homes and sooner or later for bigger animals, which make them an accepted component of the ecological system of any forest.
However, although the forest accepts them, most homeowners worry about the insects’ intrusion since they could be responsible for absurd quantity of damage. Irrespective of whether you have a new or old home, carpenter ants may find access to your home and accumulate colonies with a huge a number as many as 20 thousand. This makes them one of the biggest pest colonies found in a home.
Just like any insects, carpenter ants choose to stay outside. That is why a queen ant would set up a parent colony within a dead, stump log or within a wood pile. These ants will consume dead or living insects, meats, sweets and fats. They can travel the maximum distance of 100 yards starting from their colony searching for food. Hence, trailing where you spot these ants would assist you in determining their exact nest. If you are looking for them outside the home, make sure to monitor some minute saw dust-like material in shape of a cone. This is probably where the carpenter gets into the home.
These insects are great when it comes to accessing your home and you will mostly find them in moist places, so it is also good to keep an eye on gutters, leaking roofs and water pipes. Once they are in, it will be very easy for them to set up their satellite nests. Different from termites that consume woods inside a home, these carpenter ants build the wood through the use of its mandible and eventually push it outside their living place without ingesting any shaving they have created.
Identifying the presence of carpenter ants infestation can be as easy as seeing the ants themselves. While they are nocturnal, they will occasionally go out during daytime and will likely notice bigger numbers during nighttime. In order to help with the prevention of infestation, you may keep all tree branches out of your home’s reach, preventing them from getting easy access into your home. Get rid of old tree stump and have the rotten wood replaced with fresh materials. Uncovered wood must be sealed or painted before it could get wet, which greatly attracts these insects. You may also store firewood in an elevated space, placing it off the ground or purchase only one firewood season at a time.
Within your home, make sure to keep all foodstuffs sealed inside closed containers or plastic storage bags, so when ants find their way inside the kitchen, they won’t find any food. Stay watchful when cleaning your cabinets and counters keeping them free of crumbs as well as other food remains.
Preventing and getting rid of carpenter ants infestation may be easy, but not as guaranteed as you want. In this case, looking at the service of a reliable carpenter ants pest control services company can be a good option.
