Dealing with household pests is a problem that many people encounter over the course of their lives. Although termites and roaches are perhaps the more commonly-feared home invaders on this front, another breed of insect can damage property over time - carpenter ants. Vic Palermo is president of Ultra Safe Pest Management Inc., a Boston area company specializing in various methods of pest control, and according to him, carpenter ants are actually a rather common problem in his neck of the woods.
Carpenter ants are large, black ants that are easily visible to the naked eye. Unlike termites, which tend to stay below the surface and out of people’s way, carpenter ants have no problem crawling around and making themselves at home. In fact, their tendency to move around a lot is what helps make them so noticeable. Carpenter ants are most commonly found in areas of the home such as bathrooms (specifically, around toilets and under or behind sinks), windows, and corners that are adjacent to outdoor patios or decks. Since carpenter ants can travel quickly within a house’s plumbing system and create colonies in hidden areas of the home, the longer they go undetected, the greater their chances are of multiplying.
Contrary to what some might think, carpenter ants do not actually eat wood like termites do. Instead, they create cavities within household wood in order to house their colonies. Since carpenter ants are aggressive, they can hollow out large amounts of wood in small amounts of time. Carpenter ants also like moisture, so they are more likely to take advantage of household leaks and spring up in areas of the home where wood has been damaged or degraded by water. However, this doesn’t mean that dry, untouched areas of wood within the home will automatically remain safe from carpenter ants either.
Of course, just because carpenter ants don’t eat wood doesn’t mean that they don’t cause damage. Carpenter ants can decrease the integrity of wood and allow moisture to seep into homes on a greater scale, thus creating a cycle as far as home damages and future infestations are concerned. Therefore, it’s important that you take action as soon as you notice carpenter ants in your home.
While carpenter ants have the ability to cause plenty of damage, the one “comforting” thing about them is that unlike roaches and rodents, they do not carry any known diseases. In fact, according to Palermo, they are actually relatively clean insects. Therefore, while carpenter ants are unlikely to harm the members of a home physically, they can cause fair amounts of financial and emotional distress.
If you’re a homeowner and are starting to notice carpenter ants in your house, then you’ll want to call a pest management company immediately in order to minimize the damage potential. Remember, the sooner you get rid of your carpenter ants, the less time they’ll have to multiply and cause destruction within your home. And while you might have to pay a bit for extermination services, the money you’ll spend to get rid of them will be minimal compared to the amount it would take to repair the damages if carpenter ants were left to have their way with your home.
