One of the trickiest parts of being a homeowner can be deciding what is the biggest threat to your home. If you see an ant, how do you know whether or not that ant is a problem? One ant in your kitchen might not seem bad, but does it mean there are hundreds more hiding behind the walls, and can they be dangerous? When it comes to carpenter ants, you need to learn to protect your San Antonio home. We’ve put together a guide to get you started.
How To Distinguish Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants are among the larger home-invading ants. They can range in size from 1/2” to 5/8” and can be red, black, brown, or even a combination of these colors. Unlike other ants, carpenter ants build their nests in wood. They seek out damaged, wet, and rotting wood to build tunnels and nests for the colony, and too often, they can find this wood in your home. It’s important to note that carpenter ants don’t eat the wood—they just live there. Instead, they eat fruits, plants, other small pests, grease, and other foods. This means they might live in your walls but can also wander your kitchen.
Potential Dangers Of Carpenter Ants
Although carpenter ants are not as destructive as termites, they can still cause a lot of structural damage to your home. Over time, their tunnels and nests can put the structural integrity of your house at risk, and the damage repair costs can become expensive. In addition to the damage, they cause to wood, carpenter ants can also contaminate food. Because they don’t eat wood, they will forage for food throughout your house. If they get into a bag of food in the pantry, they can contaminate and causing you to waste that food source. Carpenter ants can also bite humans, producing a painful stinging sensation, however, their bite isn’t common and is not something to be worried about.
Signs Of An Infestation
So how do you know if you have a carpenter ant infestation? Seeing a carpenter ant in your kitchen might be a clear sign, but it isn’t the only sign. In fact, a single ant might not be a problem. It could have wandered in from outside looking for food and may not be planning to stay. However, if you see carpenter ants in your home, it’s time to look for nests. Since you can’t easily see into the walls, you will want to look for openings.
Carpenter ant tunnels are kept smooth and clean. When carpenter ants build, they push debris such as sawdust, dead ants, and dirt out of the tunnel opening. This is called frass. If you suspect carpenter ants, check around the base of the walls, the foundation, and especially crawl spaces for any round openings with sawdust-like material on the ground nearby. If you see frass, it’s time to call Romney Pest Control for professional backup right away before carpenter ants can cause any more damage.
Dealing With Carpenter Ants
Once you’ve spotted signs of carpenter ants, it’s time to get professional help. The do-it-yourself approach may not act quickly enough to prevent the ants from getting a stronghold and causing substantial damage. Instead, make that call to Romney Pest Control.! We can immediately identify the scope of the problem and determine what kind of solution is necessary. We won’t just eliminate carpenter ants, we’ll also help you remove the factors that attract the ants to your home in the first place. At Romney Pest Control, we believe in lasting pest control solutions when it comes to carpenter ants or any other pest.
