Who Wants These Pests In Their Home?

What kind of pests would you like to have in your home? Perhaps you would like some flies buzzing around your food? Maybe a few cockroaches hiding in the cracks and crevices of your kitchen? Or maybe a rodent or two lurking in the dark corners of your basement? If you are thinking, ah, no, I don't want any of those things in my home, we understand. Most sane people would rather not have any sort of insect or animal pest invading their space. But some pests are worse than others. While flies are a nuisance and can transfer bacteria, cockroaches can spread disease, and rats, among other things, can cause your home to be infested with fleas, lice, mites or ticks. The pest we're going to focus on today is one that can actually eat away at the equity of your home, quite literally, for years, without being noticed. We are talking about carpenter ants.

Now, if you read the above, and thought, wait a minute, carpenter ants don't actually eat away at a home, termites do that. You would be right. But carpenter ants do eat away at your equity by causing structural damage. These wood destroying pests cost property owners in the United States hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

How do carpenter ants cause damage?

Carpenter ants can invade a structure and cause a lot of damage over time because no one takes notice. They can chew tunnels and channels through wood, weakening the entire structure. These ants often will get their food from an outside food source, coming and going through areas that are hidden, so as not to be noticed. And, if they do come out into your home, it is likely to be in small numbers, so if they are seen it is not alarming. And while carpenter ants do leave signs of the damages they are doing inside wooden structures, these signs are often missed or misinterpreted. The sawdust or "frass" they push out of "kick out holes" can be mistaken for dirt or dust, since it is partially made up of these things. And even if you know what frass looks like, if it is kicked out in crawl spaces or other unseen areas, it will go unnoticed, sometimes for years.

How can you know if you have these ants?

While there are signs to look for, like the above-mentioned "frass" from kick out holes, the best way to know if you have these wood-destroying pests eating away at your home is to have a professional come in to help. And, if you have Modern Pest Control do a thorough inspection of your home, not only will we find out if you have carpenter ants, we'll let you know if you have any other household pests. You don't have to live with pests. Reach out to Modern Pest Control today for professional ant control.