Common Questions About Ants & How They Affect Your Home
The pest control experts at The Bugman are here to help with your Carpenter ant problems by answering some of the most frequently asked questions. If you have further questions or would like to schedule our 24/7 pest control services in the Mission, Abbotsford & Chilliwack areas, please give us a call today!
How do I identify Carpenter ants vs Pavement Ants?
Carpenter ants are found throughout all levels of the home, whereas pavement ants will only be found on the ground level of a home 90% of the time. Visibly, carpenter ants are larger than a grain of rice, and pavement ants are smaller than a grain of rice.
How serious is the damage caused by carpenter ants?
We have seen new homes, homes under construction, and older homes where carpenter ants have excavated galleries in main structural beams and wall studs. We have also seen many carpenter ants in homes with almost no resulting damage. Unfortunately, the damage is often not visible unless wall or ceiling cavities are opened. Nests are often discovered during renovations.
How do you get rid of Ants?
Killing the visible ants foraging around a home is merely removing the symptoms. 90% of the ants never leave the nests. The nests must be located and destroyed.
How do you find the nests?
Through years of experience treating numerous homes, pest control professionals have gained a sense of where the nests are likely to be. By doing a thorough inspection of evidence and tracking, we are able to narrow down nest locations to small areas. Customer observations are also important.
Are the pesticides used, toxic to people in the home?
Pesticides are like medicine. When used properly they are safe and effective. When they are not used properly they can cause health hazards. We do not place pesticides where humans or animals will come in contact with them. We always practice “integrated pest management” which means we use all methods possible to control pests with minimum use of pesticides. The common chemical we use to deal with ants, Dragnet, is safe for pets and kids, and slightly more toxic than table salt but less toxic than aspirin.
How do the small tin ant traps work?
They don’t. They are not traps. They contain a small amount of ant poison that is not effective for carpenter ants.
What about the little yellow or red bottles of ant poison? Do they eat it and take it back to kill the queen and others in the nest?
Because only a few ants leave the nests, ant poison must have a good residual to have an effect when it is transferred to other ants. It is effective for some ants but not for most carpenter ants. (The core colony workers, queens, and supplementary reproductives rarely eat new untested food sources)