Santa Clarita homeowners enjoy over 250 days of sunshine annually. Water lovers have access to over 1,000 miles of beach shorelines. Others can enjoy hundreds of city parks and two national parks. Santa Clarita's family-friendly communities make it an excellent place for home ownership. One frequent pest in the area that enjoys visiting area homes is the carpenter ant. Busy carpenter ants could soon establish drilling operations within local homes without professional ant pest control services.
Characteristics Of Carpenter Ants: A Guide To Accurate Identification
Due to an ant's size and determination, most homeowners will encounter them indoors at some point. Most home-invading ants are more of a nuisance, and while all can contaminate food and surfaces, some, like carpenter ants, can bring more troubling issues to homes. Hence, it's crucial to identify them accurately.
Four characteristics that can help identify carpenter ants in Santa Clarita homes include the following:
- Their coloration is typically red, black (most common), or a combination.
- Their size is typically between 1/2 and 5/8 of an inch long.
- Their bodies are oval-shaped and segmented (pinched waist).
- They have elbowed antennae and six legs.
Determining which ant species is in your home is critical to adequately treating ant infestations. Homeowners can receive help with ant identification and removal when they contact Excel Pest. Our techs can quickly identify ant species and provide expert removal services.
Carpenter Ants Do Not Eat Wood: They Just Chew It
Most carpenter ants find their way indoors while foraging for food or sources of moisture. Like other ants, carpenter ants delight in sweet foods, insects, eggs, meats, grease, and cakes. Ants can easily access homes using trees, shrubs, utility pipes, wires, and cables; they also crawl through cracks around doors and windows.
While it is true that carpenter ants get lured into homes due to abundant sources of food and moisture, the wood in homes is not part of their diet. Carpenter ants chew on and discard wood or sawdust as they tunnel through it to establish galleries for their nest mates.
Some familiar places in homes where carpenter ants like to nest include:
- Wall voids (especially where there is moisture leakage)
- Within insulation
- Eaves and attics
- Under bathroom fixtures
- Under windows
- Within structural timbers
- Within door frames
- Under appliances (dishwashers)
Carpenter ant tunneling and galleries can take a toll on the wood products in homes. If left untreated, their activities can eventually threaten the structural integrity of crucial structural support beams. Homeowners can avoid carpenter ant damage in their homes by contacting Excel Pest for quick and efficient removal.
The Most Effective Carpenter Ant Control In Santa Clarita
Our over 25 years of combined experience at Excel Pest gives us a unique insight into effective pest and carpenter ant exclusion strategies. Our field experience, work ethic, and desire to help our neighbors make us the most effective company around to get rid of carpenter ants. Call Excel Pest today for a free estimate and inspection.
Tips To Prevent Carpenter Ants From Coming Back
Once Excel Pest removes carpenter ants from a home, preventing future infestations is essential. Since ants are attracted to moisture and softened wood, fixing any plumbing leaks in your house is necessary. Rooms prone to excess humidity should utilize dehumidifiers, and homeowners should quickly replace any moisture-soaked wood. Keeping surfaces clean and sweeping crumbs (especially in the kitchen area) is essential, and storing foods in the refrigerator or airtight containers is also wise.
Attention to the outside of the house is also essential. Sealing cracks and gaps around windows and doors helps stop ants from gaining entrance. Trimming back overhanging tree branches and keeping shrubs and bushes trimmed and away from homes also helps. Keeping yard debris like wood products, fallen logs, and firewood well away from the house can also eliminate carpenter ant temptations.
Homeowners can do much to prevent carpenter ant infestations in Santa Clarita if they take a proactive stance to prevention. While reducing carpenter ant attractants is always wise, sometimes prevention measures fail; when they do, Excel Pest has professional carpenter ant removal solutions that can help.