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How Carpenter Ants Get Into The Walls And Floors Of Oklahoma Residences
December 7, 2018
There are many pests that homeowners must deal with throughout the year. Pests are often dangerous to our health and safety. Mice, rats, raccoons, roaches, and bats are a few of the animals you may think of when you hear the term “dangerous pests”.
Some pests are dangerous to your home rather than being directly harmful to you. Carpenter ants target the wood in your home, wreaking havoc amongst the structural components of your walls, floor, and ceiling. This destruction of property often goes unnoticed for extended periods of time. By the time you notice that carpenter ants have nested in your home, the damage has often already been done.
Oklahoma is not a state that typically falls below an average low of 48 degrees, even in the winter! Carpenter ants thrive in warm, humid weather—but they don’t just die off once the weather gets cooler. Instead, carpenter ants remain active for most or all of the year. While they may become slightly less active as the temperatures drop, they won’t stop chewing tunnels through your home.
In the spring, some carpenter ants will split away from their colonies and create satellite colonies. The members of these satellite colonies have wings that allow them to travel far away from their original location. Once these winged ants have found a suitable area to live, they will shed their wings, mate, and begin a new colony of their own.
How You Are Attracting Carpenter Ants to Your Home
Several factors affect whether a location will make a good home for a carpenter ant colony. Some of the main reasons carpenter ants are drawn to homes include
Moisture attracts carpenter ants. They prefer chewing through soft wood, especially when first entering a potential colony site. If carpenter ants are targeting your home due to leaky faucets and dripping pipes, this could be an indicator of a serious water-damage problem in your home.
Carpenter ants do not infest homes to eat the wood they are tunneling through. They're searching out food. The tunnels they create are simply a home and shelter, which means they must forage for food elsewhere. Sugar and protein-rich foods attract ants the most, so things like pet food, meat, fruits, syrup, jelly, and honey are all foods that attract carpenter ants.
Debris and clutter around your property will provide prime nesting spaces for carpenter ants. Their colonies almost always start outside your home. They can be found inside dead trees and old logs, or in other wooded areas. Wood piles, stumps, and logs are all potential nesting sites for colonies. If a colony is nesting anywhere on your property, you can be certain that your home is their next target.
How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants can cause extensive damage to homes if they aren’t dealt with immediately. It is extremely important to call the pest control professionals as soon as you know or even suspect that you may have a carpenter ant problem.
Montgomery Exterminating deals with several irritating pest intruders, including carpenter ants. When you partner with Montgomery, you get help from the best. We will work with you to develop the perfect home pest control program for you. Contact us for more information on all our year-round services. A happy home is a pest free home!
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