Child Finds Carpenter Ants in the Home Toms River, NJ
Most kids have a fascination with bugs. For a child, there is something magical about observing living creatures that are so compact tiny, efficient, and always looking busy! If there are bugs around, just let a few children loose and they’ll inevitably sniff them out!
Last week, a friend of mine and his three-year-old son, Alex, visited my home in Toms River, NJ. The little guy discovered a huge carpenter ant colony on my property. He was so excited because the ants looked just like the bugs on the graphics covering the Cowleys work van that was parked outside.
It’s hard to find someone as interested in bugs as I am, so i was happy to talk to Alex about his exciting discovery. I explained to him that you’ll find carpenter ants crawling over wood. They don’t actually eat wood like termites, but instead, they will drill deep holes into the wood to nest.
Alex was amazed at how many ants were clustered together and just sitting there. There was so much space outdoors and he thought it was strange that they all wanted to snuggle together! I explained that ants are as sensitive to the cold as we are. When temperatures are low, ants will try to stay warm by huddling together in a hidden location like under the bark of a tree.
He asked me what I was going to do about there ants, and I let him in on my plan. Carpenter ants can cause extensive damage to homes, so it’s not good to allow colonies to thrive nearby. Also, ants are adventurous foragers and will go far and wide in search of food. I explained that there were probably carpenter ants that have climbed all the way to the tippy-top of the tree and even a great pest control technician like me could not individually track down every single one of these ants. However, I have products that take advantage of the ants’ behavior. Many of the products we use are slow-acting. The foraging ants carry the product back to the colony and, pretty soon, the entire ant colony is wiped out. Alex thought it was kind of sad to get rid of the colony. I explained to him that there are lots and lots of ants in the world— far more ants than people. We leave most of the colonies alone. However, when ants come too close to our houses we have to do something about it. Even the nicest people can’t share their homes with insects. Insects are bad house guests, especially carpenter ants that make big holes in wood! Alex understood.
It was time deal with this ant colony. Since I was using a spray, I had Alex watch me from the window. I grabbed my sprayer and applied a light liquid application over the base of the tree where the ants had taken up residence. Within two weeks, this colony should be eliminated and I won’t have to worry about tree damage. Carpenter ants look for weak, water-saturated wood to excavate for their larvae. However, once they start to boring, they will extend their damage into the sound tree wood. Over time, a tree can lose its structural strength because of insect damage. If there are high winds during a storm, trees that are weakened by a carpenter ant infestation stand a higher chance of toppling. This is why it’s important to deal with carpenter ant infestations not only in your home, but around your home as well.