So you have Carpenter ants, how did you get them, where did they come from, why are they there, what are they doing to your home, and how do you get rid of them?

 

Most often, Carpenter ants got to your home by marching along a fence line, an overhead utility line, or on a tree limb. Although they can march across the ground or through the grass, they really do have an affinity for the straight lines provided by exterior attachments.  (also think hose lines, sidewalk edges, etc…)

Tree limbs are especially attractive to ants.  All ants feed on the insects in trees and on their secretions.  A home with tree limbs on it is like finding a free empty condo over your favorite free all you can eat always open restaurant.Odorous House ants, also known as Sugar ants, are especially likely to infest homes with touching tree limbs.

 

But there are other things that bring ants to your home. Anything that increases the moisture content of your home increases your chances for an ant infestation.

 

The soil on the exterior of your home should not contact your siding.  This increases its moisture content and encourages rot.  Damp environments invite ant and other insect infestations, and make it possible for insects to enter up into your structure through the soil, allowing them do so in a way which that is not visible.

The soil level on the exterior of any brick home should be several inches below the bottom most level of brick.  The landscaping is so high on this home that it almost comes up to the top of the vent or about a foot to a foot and half too high.  In this case water can run right into the vent when it rains.  Bricks are porous and so is grout, moisture from the ground will continually seep into the wall due to the high soil level and rot out the wood behind the brick. This provides an ideal breeding environment for several species of ants

 

For more tips, check back frequently, check out the rest of our blog, and visit our web site:  www.pestfree.net.  If you have questions about Carpenter Ants, Odorous House Ants, other pests, or treatment options, email us service@pestfree.net or call us:  1-877-743-1896

When the afternoon temperatures starting hitting above 48 degrees around here, the ants start coming out of the woodworks, literally. We get numerous calls about big black ants and small black ants in kitchens and bathrooms, ants in the garbage or cupboards, and most frequently of all, ants in the dishwasher. 

 

Every year at this time the calls about Carpenter Ants and Odorous House Ants, also called Sugar Ants begin.  The ants that you are seeing now on the inside were actually living in your house last year before winter.  It is still too cold for there to be any foraging or nest moving occurring outside.

 

They are looking for water and perhaps carbohydrates, which is why you will see ants on or in sinks, next to pet food dishes, around recycling bins, and anywhere you have water.

 

For many people, ant activity in the spring is an annual occurrence.  Just about the time the start getting really irritated with the ants – they vanish.  Or at least seem to.

 

Although some foraging can occur now, I have seen Carpenter Ants walking in the snow; outside foraging is still a couple of weeks away.

 

When the weather outside warms up a bit more, the natural food sources of the ants become more plentiful.  They continue nesting in your home, becoming ever more numerous, causing ever more damage (at least for the Carpenter Ants) but they no longer come inside, thereby giving a lot of homeowners a false sense of relief.  Out of sight is not out of danger though.

 

Activity in the spring time is a sure indicator that you have an ant problem and need professional pest control services.  Check out our site for more info on ants:  http://www.pestfree.net/AntControl.htm

Carpenter waiting at entrance to nest in wall.  Check out gap in corner.

Carpenter Ants often use fence lines, tree limbs, or utility lines to gain access to food sources or to infest homes.

We remove birds from roof and attic areas.  We install strong, but lightweight, metal screens over eave span vents to exclude birds.  We offer lifetime warranties and we pay special care to make your home look great when we are through.  We also install woodpecker deterrents.

 

   

Eave span vents with damage from birds on left.

Eave span vents with new exterior screen on right – barely visible from ground level.

 

Every spring we are inundated with calls about the ‘birds in my roof’ or the ‘bird in my attic’.  The most common culprit is the European Starling. We also get a lot of calls about woodpeckers and flickers.

 

European Starling adults are about 8 to 9 inches tall, so not particularly large.  Really good information about them, including excellent pictures can be found here: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/European_Starling.html.

 

Many homes have small round or triangle shaped vents in their eave spans.  These openings not only mimic the natural holes the birds are biologically wired to use for nesting, they are made of wood, and occur at the birds normal desired nest height.

 

The vents are typically screened from the inside with a fiberglass mesh or light aluminum screen, similar to the type of screen found in door and window screens.  Neither of these materials will stand up to a focused assault by a determined bird beak.

 

We always recommend screening all possible entry areas around your exterior.  If you only screen where they are now, you will just move them over.  It is best to screen your eave spans early before they produce baby birds. 

 

Be careful, if you decide to tackle this job yourself.  Falls from ladders can alter how you live for the rest of your life.  We take all sorts of safety precautions when performing bird work.

 

Also, some people use metal louvered vents, or wood to cover up these vents, as a cheap do-it-yourself remedy.  Lowering the amount of ventilation in your roof or attic voids can lead to mold in your home, roof rot, and premature roof replacement.

 

Sometimes, woodpeckers will start the holes on a house and the starlings will chase them away and take over the nests.  For additional info on pest birds see our web page: http://www.pestfree.net/PestBirdControl.htm

 

 

With all the cold weather we've been having lately, rodent sightings are up.  Way up.

With the coming of colder weather, usually the arrival of fall, outside nesting rodents will often move to warmer areas, which may include your home.  Normally they are content with your sub area, garages, or attic spaces.

If the weather isn't too bad, you may not even know that they're there.

With our area blanketed in snow, food sources outside are really hard to get to.  So difficult, that it may cause rodents to overcome there normal shyness of humans.  The may come inside.  Be on the look out for gnaw marks in exposed foods.  Put your pet food away before you go to bed.  Take your trash out at night and give us a call.  We'll be out as quick as we can to control your rodents.  Check our rodent info, while you're waiting