Carpenter ants are among the most destructive household pests. Without carpenter ant removal in Toronto, they can hollow out wooden structures in your home to build their nests. If you have a carpenter ant nest, you should hire a pest control service as soon as possible, but it can be challenging to find the nest. Here are some tips to help you locate a carpenter ant nest on your property and to prevent carpenter ants if you don’t already have a nest.

When Is the Best Time of Year To Look for Carpenter Ants?

Carpenter ants in the wild enter a state called diapause during the winter in which they go dormant. During the fall, they become more active in looking for food to build fat stores to sustain them throughout diapause. Therefore, you may be more likely to see carpenter ants during the fall.

Spring is another good time to look for carpenter ants. As the weather warms up, they come out of diapause, and a well-established colony may produce a generation of winged ants called swarmers. There are two reasons why you, as a homeowner, should look out for swarmers in the spring. First, each female winged carpenter ant has the potential to find a whole new colony. Second, if there are large numbers of swarmers on your property, it could be that there is already a well-established colony of carpenter ants on your property that needs your immediate attention.

What Are Some Signs of Carpenter Ants That You Should Look For?

Because carpenter ants nest in wood, it can be difficult to find them. You can prevent extensive property damage if you locate the nest early, but the signs can be more subtle and easier to miss. Nevertheless, carpenter ants still leave behind some telltale signs.

One of the first things you should look for is wet wood. Carpenter ants prefer making nests in wet wood because the moisture makes it softer and easier to tunnel through. If you have a leak inside your home or a deck that absorbs water because it hasn’t been properly sealed, these are the areas you should check first. From there, you should perform inspections of all wood structures outside your home and interior wood structures that make contact with the foundations.

Carpenter ants don’t eat wood; they just chew it up to make tunnels. This process creates a kind of fine sawdust called frass. Carpenter ants push the frass out of their holes, where it can collect on the floor. If you see unexplained piles of sawdust, look for a small entry point somewhere in the wall above it.

When a carpenter ant colony has grown large, the ants sometimes establish satellite colonies nearby, especially near food sources. Therefore, if you have any rotting logs or tree stumps on your property, you should inspect them for signs of carpenter ants. If you find any, you should have an inspection of your indoors as well.

Ants tend to follow the same path whenever they go out foraging for food. If you seem to see ants in the same area all the time, see if you can track them back to their nest.

If there is a large colony of carpenter ants inside your property, you can sometimes hear them moving around in the walls. This can sound like a crackling or rustling.

How Can You Prevent Carpenter Ants?

You can prevent carpenter ants by avoiding leaks and sealing wooden decks and porches so they don’t absorb water. You can also keep shrubs and bushes pruned back so they don’t make contact with the foundation and clear away any wooden debris from your property.

Truly Nolen’s pest control services involve positively identifying the pest to determine the best course of action. We not only remove ants; we provide year-round prevention. Learn more about our carpenter ant removal process.