CARPENTER ANTS are extremely common throughout cottage country these days. While they don’t actually eat wood, they do like to excavate wood to make their nests. [Click to Expand]
They don’t limit themselves to only wood though – they’re increasingly found setting up shop in insulation foam. They don’t even wait for damp wood any more! In several cases we’ve dealt with, the ants have moved in within a week of the insulation foams installation. That is NOT the sort of progress we want to see.
Cottage Country Pest Control has had a great deal of success in eradicating carpenter ant infestations – mostly because Jessa is extremely tuned into ants. She finds and follows them, and does a great job of getting the bait to them.
Our goal with carpenter ants is always to wipe out the entire colony. To do this, we provide large amounts of whichever baits the ants will take; multiple flavours of gels, liquids, and granular bait. The ants take the food back to the nest and eventually it winds up working its way through the nest to the queen. Once the queen dies, any ants that are left behind will wander off. Without the queen, there is no ‘brain’ to keep them functioning.
We don’t stop there though! Even if we’ve had a great bloom and the ants have cleared themselves out, we take extra steps to make sure that things stay good and that the space is left uninhabitable for any new insects who might think to move in. As much as we love our customers and would love to come visit you every year or two to wipe out a new batch, that’s not really the sort of thing that makes a positive difference, nor would it be something we could feel proud of. So, even though it means we might not need to ever come back, we do take the time to dust everything we can with diatomaceous earth (DE).
DE works by mechanical means – it cuts little slices into insects exoskeletons – so no pesticide for the people & pets, but no comfort for any new insects that might be thinking to move in. We do cracks and crevices, and especially into any little holes the ants were using to access their nests and/or to dump their garbage out of.
TERMITES – think we don’t have termites in our area? I’ve heard that before. But I’ve also heard and seen them, the mud tubes they make, and a whole lot of damage.. There are some areas in Tiny Township where all one needs to do to see termites is to look under a log or a rock. [Click to expand]
The type of termites we have here are Eastern Subterranean termites. These live underground in large colonies that expand via networks of underground tunnels. When they want to explore someplace that isn’t underground, they bring it with them, building mud tunnels to extend their reach. They really don’t care for fresh air most of the time – the only exception being during swarming seasons, when some termites will develop wings and go find new places to set up.
So – they have some similarities to ants in that they swarm to expand their range. Visually the key difference is that ants have waists, while termites don’t. And termites, once they get where they are going, just drop their wings, so sometimes one of the signs of an infestation might be a pile of wings left behind.
Mud tubes are another relatively easy to spot sign of infestation. Others which are less obvious include peeling /blistering /otherwise disturbed paint; tiny pinholes appearing in walls or ceilings, often with bits of dust or dirt below; weird noises; hollow-sounding walls and/or changes in the way things fit together – a door that no longer closes properly, for example, or a new crack appearing around a window frame.
While termite infestations can, of course, be treated, the amount of expertise, work, and product that is required is huge and the costs can be very high. Waiting until you have an active infestation before doing anything about it is NOT a good plan and I do not recommend it. If you are buying, building, or renovating a home or cottage in an area where we know we have them, the smart thing to do is to pre-treat.
We can protect the wood going into your project. If it’s a whole new build, we can pre-treat the ground and create a circle of protection that termites can’t cross.
