Think about the Earth When Renovating Your Home

Important Tips For Getting Rid Of The Carpenter Ants Around Your Home

25 June 2017

Hector Meyer

If you have recently discovered one or more areas around your home that have become the home for carpenter ants, it's essential for you to get rid of them as soon as you can. Common places for them to hide can include potted plants or other greenery that maintain a connection with the ground, fireplaces and even your patio. Since carpenter ants are similar to termites in that they can do significant damage to the wood in and around your home in a relatively brief period of time, it's essential for you to know what you can do to permanently abolish them from your home and grounds. As a result, it's best to become familiar with the following tips for making that process easier:

Wear Protective Clothing Around Carpenter Ants

Although you are probably already planning to wear long sleeves, a mask, gloves, etc. when you are actively administering extermination efforts, those accessories are often bulky. Unfortunately, more than one homeowner has been injured after deciding to just go poking through a suspected area for carpenter ants and although that vicious little creature prefers to dine on proteins and sugars, it can also take painful bites from human flesh if prompted.

Therefore, every time that you think you might come into contact with carpenter ants, even if you are just cleaning off the patio or mowing the lawn, it is a good idea to be properly protected from them. 

Remove Every Trace Of The Carpenter Ants Existence

Another tip to consider relates to the time after you believe that you have killed the carpenter ants and any viable eggs, as even a few survivors can allow the infestation to occur again. Although carpenter ants destroy wood, they do not eat it and instead use it wood that they have chewed through as a safe haven. That means that simply killing the creatures you see is not sufficient and instead, it is better to remove the wood near where they lived and just in case, the wood that would be appealing to any straggling survivors.    

Easy ways to do so include vacuuming the colonies you see into a bag that can be sealed and disposed of in a safe area free of wood, in case the bag rips. That vacuum needs to be washed and sanitized so that any carpenter ants who might have survived your efforts are washed away. If you are going low-tech and plan to just carry away the affected wood, wrap the unit in a tarp or similar item to make sure that one or two ticked off and lonely carpenter ants don't decide that you make a great afternoon snack. Although rarely dangerous, carpenter ants are big creatures and their bites can be quite painful. 

In conclusion, carpenter ants are destructive creatures that can wreak havoc on the wood components in and around your home in a brief period of time. As a result, when you have confirmed their presence there, you need to know the advice shared above in order to exterminate them before further damage can be inflicted. 

Contact a company like Environmental Services Pest Control for more information and assistance. 

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