Of the many ant species living in the Daphne area, carpenter ants are the last kind you want to find inside your home. Carpenter ants are either all-black or red and black, and grow to about ½” long, making them one of the largest ants found in Alabama. The reason these ants are known as “carpenters” is because they’re quite talented at working with wood – which is exactly why you don’t want them in your home. Much like termites, carpenter ants will bore through wooden structures of your home to create tunnels in which to live.
Carpenter ant infestations can cause serious structural damage over time and, unfortunately, homeowners often fail to discover the problem for several months. If you’re concerned about a carpenter ant presence in your home in Daphne, keep reading to learn how to recognize an infestation and what to do about it.
5 Signs of a Carpenter Ant Infestation in Your Home
- Visible Ant Activity
The biggest warning sign of a carpenter ant infestation is actually seeing these large ants crawling around your Daphne home or nearby. If you only see a single carpenter ant, it’s possible it just wandered inside while looking for food. However, if you see multiple carpenter ants inside your home or in your yard, there’s a high probability that the ants have built a nest on your property. Unlike many common ant species, carpenter ants are primarily nocturnal, so you should look out for them at night. Shine a flashlight around to see if there are any trails of carpenter ants marching through your home.
- Piles of Sawdust
One of the major things that separates carpenter ants from termites is that termites don’t actually eat wood; they just tunnel through it. In the process of building tunnels through wooden walls, floors, baseboards, and support structures, carpenter ants will leave piles of wooden dust lying around. If you suddenly start noticing small piles of sawdust in your home in Daphne, it’s very likely that carpenter ants have begun tunneling through your home.
- Hollowed Wood
Over time, carpenter ant infestations will hollow out wooden structures throughout your home. This damage will eventually become apparent as wood becomes misshapen due to the insects’ relentless tunneling. If you’re concerned about a carpenter ant presence in your home, try tapping on baseboards and other wooden structures; wood that has been hollowed out by carpenter ants will have a distinctly hollow sound. As a further step, try pushing a screwdriver into wood that sounds hollow to see if it sinks in without resistance.
- Outdoor Nests
In many cases of carpenter ant infestation in Daphne, the ants first establish a nest in dead wood near a house before moving on to the house itself. When you notice carpenter ant activity on your property, search your yard for outdoor nests. Tree stumps, firewood piles, and wooden fences or sheds are all common carpenter ant nesting sites. If you find an ant nest in these locations, chances are high that carpenter ants have moved on to your home – or will do so in the near future.
- Swarmers
During spring and early summer in the Daphne area, certain carpenter ants begin to grow wings and leave their original colonies behind to start new ones. These wing ants are known as “swarmers,” and seeing them on your property is a cause for alarm. If carpenter ant swarmers take a liking to your home, they will establish a new colony within your walls. Even if you don’t actually see the ant swarmers, you may find their wings lying around, since carpenter ants discard them after mating.
How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants
Removing a carpenter ant infestation is a difficult process, especially once the colony is established in the wooden parts of your home. If your home has been overrun by carpenter ants, your best option is to bring in a professional pest control company that specializes in removing carpenter ants. Get in touch with SafeSpray Pest Control today if you’re in need of reliable carpenter ant control services in the Daphne area!
