The Carolina spring is lovely, and yet there comes a time when you look at that first strand of that line of ants on your kitchen counter, and the magic is lost in a very short time. The majority of people with homes in Charlotte, Gastonia, and Monroe quickly reach the nearest can of ant spray and proclaim victory following the short-lived kill.
But what, nevertheless, should happen to be the end of a gigantic, six-legged iceberg?
The fact is that although an ant out of place is a usual nuisance, continued or frequent observations, particularly in a climate such as ours, are usually an indication of a deep infestation. The distinction between a small cleanup and a long-lasting and costly attack is knowing when it is better to lay down the DIY can and call in a professional in the neighborhood.
The following are the five concrete indicators that your ant problem has grown to be a major infestation, thus necessitating the services of an exterminator who will take care of it in the area of Charlotte and beyond.
1. You see the ant trails, day after day, in the same place.
The most noticeable indication of an infestation is a high-profile and established ant trail. One scout ant may pass through an open door, but as soon as you see lines of ants, you know you have ants by the hundreds, following the same trail up a side of the wall, along a baseboard, or under a cabinet, and you have a highway.
Ant trails are not merely movement, as they are actually a communication system. These routes are identified by the pheromones, which are chemical signals that inform other ants where to proceed to get the best sources of food and water. The larger the number of ants utilizing the pheromone trail, the stronger the scent and the greater the number of ants that are attracted.
When you cut the area off and discover the track re-cut several hours afterwards, the source of the colony, the nest, is in full blast, in order, and at a very short distance. This is when you require specialized treatment in which this chemical communication system is destroyed, and not only the workers can be seen, but the whole colony.
2. You Find Sawdust-Like Stacks Around Wood Buildings.
To the regular householder, a small heap of sawdust next to a window sash or under the foundation of an outer deck may not be much of a worry. Nevertheless, with carpenter ants, such wood shavings, which are frequently accompanied by insect body parts, indicate a major concern.
Carpenter ants do not eat wood, unlike termites, but excavate through it, making their homes. Gradually, these tunnels or galleries may undermine the structural strength of your house in moist or decaying wood in the crawl spaces or in areas where there is a leak in the foundation or where there is an old sill on a window.
A DIY spray won’t do the trick in case you think your house has carpenter ants, and a particular instance of this is when the house is old and has a colony of the insects in the deepest parts of the wood. The precise location of the nest sites should be identified using professional inspection, and special, long-lasting ant control services that do not lead to structural damage should be used.
3. The Pests Show Up in a Variety of Seasons.
The pest activity has a tendency to be seasonal. An example of such is the ants that are predominant during warmer and more humid spring and summer seasons as they seek food and water.
One of the major clues that your house is a permanent contributing part of the infrastructure of an ant colony and not just a foraging site is that it remains active all year round. When you find ants in your kitchen or bathroom in the cold winter season of Charlotte, then you know that the colony has firmly established itself in the temperature conditions of your home. Now they are using your walls and voids as their first-time home, not as a temporary food supply.
Once the colony has become established enough to be able to survive and forage in the house during winter, you are dealing with an infestation that has reached the level of maturity and is destined to need professional protection throughout the year, usually by a regular residential pest control program.
4. You Find Hotspur “Swarmers” In Door.
A swarm of winged reproductive ants in your house is the most disturbing indication of an extremely large, adult ant colony. This has often been compared to a termite swarm, which is equally severe.
An ant colony will develop swarmers to mate and form new colonies when it has attained a critical mass, which usually takes a few years to develop. When you encounter these winged ants around windows, doors, or these light lamps in your house, it is because:
- You have a big nest, already built somewhere in the walls or foundation of your home.
- The colony is already grown enough so that it can procreate, and it is a severe sign of a long-term issue.
Discovery of swarmers indicates that the colony is in the optimum longevity phase in your structure. Do-it-yourself techniques at this stage would be completely useless, since you will have to engage the services of a licensed professional who will determine the specific species and implement an intense, comprehensive treatment regime to get rid of the immensely large mother colony.
5. Your homemade ant killer does not work in a few weeks.
Being candid, nearly all the homeowners attempt to contain the ant problems themselves initially. You purchase the poisonous traps, you sprinkle the perimeter, and you feel good about it.
Nevertheless, when you have used several over-the-counter sprays or baits or home remedies and still the ants continue to show up in the same spots within one or two weeks, then it is a good indication that the products are only destroying the visible workers, not penetrating the queen and the nest.
The colonies of ants in modern society are intelligent. When the workers come in contact with a poisonous chemical (such as a spray), the colony can just move the trail or change the location of the nest a few inches. The only effective ant treatment is the non-repellant type of bait, the product that is specifically designed to be taken to the nest and taken back by the workers, where they are eventually killed by the queen and the rest of the colony. These are commercial-grade products that are not normally made available to the masses, and they have to be applied professionally to work.
Don’t Wait: Round the Bend on an Infestation of Ants.
Ants are not a nuisance in the Charlotte area; they are a regular menace. The answer lies in being informed when your ant problem qualifies to be a full-fledged infestation, and that is the best way to ensure you not only preserve the health and the value of your house.
When you start seeing the trails that were left behind, when you stumble upon sawdust, and when you are in the winter when you are fighting them, then you should quit spending money on sprays that will only use up a few thousand workers. When you leave your pest control to a locally owned professional like HMO Pest Control, you are in a position to get the local kind of treatment, which is focused and which acts at its source.
We provide free estimates and specialize in providing powerful, family-safe, and eco-friendly treatments to deal with the target pests of Charlotte, Gastonia, and Monroe homes.
Call Pest Control by Contact HMO today and arrange your free inspection and get around the corner of your ant problem or any other problem.
