When homeowners think about their home and pests, most of them want to keep pests away. There are some pests that can be especially problematic. One of those pests is carpenter ants. They can destroy your home if you don’t catch them early on. It is important for homeowners to be educated on carpenter ants so that they can spot a problem before it becomes an infestation. Effective Pest Services is here to talk about carpenter ants and the problems that they can cause to your home.
What Do Carpenter Ants Look Like?
Carpenter ants are usually easy to spot because they are the biggest ants around. If you notice large, black or red ants crawling around your home, you know that they are the ants you should be concerned about. Sometimes, carpenter ants have wings as they search for a new place to build up their colony. If you see winged ants buzzing around your windows, you know that you more than likely have a carpenter ant problem in your house. Homeowners don’t want any ants in their home, but they especially don’t want carpenter ants.
Property Damage Caused by Carpenter Ants
If you aren’t familiar with carpenter ants and the danger that they place on your home, we would like to shed some light on what these pests do. Unlike termites, carpenter ants don’t actually eat the wood your home is built of. They eat most of the same foods that you do. They are attracted to sugary, oily and greasy food. However, they do build their nests in the walls of your home. As they work to build their nest, they will hollow out wood and create galleries. Over time, and as these colonies get larger, you might notice that there is significant damage done to your home and property. These hollowed out nests can weaken the structure of your home and the damage can be similar to termite damage. The biggest difference between carpenter ant damage and termite damage is that damaged caused by carpenter ants is much slower.
Signs of Carpenter Ants
Following are signs that indicate you’re dealing with carpenter ants:
– Finding piles of sawdust around the windows, walls, and corners of your home
– Spotting the ants themselves
– Hearing a rustling sound behind the walls of your home as they work to build their nests
– Seeing trails of ants going to and from food sources
– Finding large, winged ants around the windows and doors of your home
– Seeing wings that ants have shed around the windows of your house
Ant Pest Inspections, Exclusion, Control, Removal & More in Wellington, Fort Collins, Timnath, Greeley, Longmont, Boulder, Johnstown, Berthoud, Estes Park & Loveland, CO | Northern Colorado
Depending on where the colony is, you can notice damage in just a few months! If you notice that there are signs that you have a problem with carpenter ants in your home, you can turn to Effective Pest Services to help you get rid of them. We will make sure you don’t have an ant problem that is putting your home at risk of damage. Call us today!