carpenter ants
Most people don’t have the time to asses everything around their home to see if they could be doing something to be breeding pests. Pests in Alabama are just like pests anywhere except that the humid and warm environment during the summer and spring make it ideal for them to thrive.
Something as simple as a wood pile too close to your home can can create a pest problem
It’s obvious to most homeowners to not leave food debris and spills for pests to feed off of. But what about things that aren’t so obvious that you might be doing to encourage pests. In Alabama, we have more warm humid months than we do cold winter months. This makes pest season virtually year around.
So what can we do to around our homes to discourage pests from moving in with us? Here’s a short list I’ve compiled that I think will be most helpful.
1 Keep an eye on the kids (or adults that act like kids) when it comes to eating inside the home.
I have a customer in Homewood who is in a constant struggle between her four kids and her husband to not eat on the couch, in the bedrooms, living room or anywhere else food can find it’s way onto the floor or in the crack of a piece of furniture. Pests will find their way inside and if you’re feeding them, they don’t have an incentive to leave.
2 Look out for wide open spaces.
They actually don’t have to be that wide open but that’s how most pests view little cracks around doors and windows that can be a huge entry point into your home. You don’t have to do anything drastic such as replace them but you can use things such as expanding foam (use it sparingly, it will make a mess) or weather stripping. Most homeowners are under the impression that their home is sealed from the outside. Not true. There’s plenty of cracks and crevices.
3 Keep the brush back
The more vegetation that you have up against your home, the greater the likely hood of pests finding their way inside. Try to at least trim it back to keep it from touching doors and windows.
4 Be careful of what you bring into your home
Pests don’t always come from the outside on their own. They can also be hitchhikers. Ants can be brought in with potted plants. Roaches can be brought in with boxes. Indian mill moths and beetles can be brought in with food items. You can’t always tell but inspect those items regularly.
My name is Greg with ETX Pest Management. Please call or text me @ 205-223-9460 or click here to find out about our four step initial service and how we help our customers to be pest free year around of pests in Alabama. I service select areas of Jefferson and Shelby County areas such as Hoover, Homewood, Vestavia, Pelham, Helena and Alabaster.
FollowI provide a quarterly pest service for a company that owns a town home in Vestavia. It’s actually used as temporary housing for employees who come into town for training with the company. I serviced it today because of a report of large black ants inside and out.
It turns out that they were carpenter ants. Many of my customers that have had problems with carpenter ants in Alabama over the years have inquired about them and how they were concerned about structural damage to their homes. Fortunately, carpenter ants don’t consume wood as termites do.
Carpenter ants don’t consume wood, they just infest water damaged wood and wood with a high moisture content
They do however, infest wood that has been water damaged and/or has a high moisture content. As far as the town home is concerned, it has both. The siding on the rear is a composite wood product and then there’s a utility room with water damage that’s destroyed the ceiling.
I also haven’t mentioned the fact that the town home gets very little sunlight because it’s shaded by numerous trees. Having all of these conditions are very conducive to carpenter ants. I suggested that my contact person notify the company about the existing problems.
If you’re seeing carpenter ants in or outside your home, be on the look out for water damaged wood near your home. It’s more common than you think and fixing those problems may save you a lot of time and money in the future.
My name is Greg with ETX Pest Management. Please call or text me @ 205-223-9460 or click here to find out about our four step initial service and how we help our customers to be pest free year around. I service select areas of Jefferson and Shelby County areas such as Hoover, Homewood, Vestavia, Pelham, Helena and Alabaster.