It's cold out right now in Sacramento so we don't typically see many ants roaming around outdoors much. Indoors where it's warmer, can be a different story however.
About a year ago, I started seeing a few random large ants wandering around my house. Because it wasn't a trail of ants that I could see going to any particular food source, I wasn't too concerned. Random ant? No big deal. Then they were gone with the cold weather.
As the weather warmed up, I noticed in one bedroom closet, some droppings that looked like a mixture of chewed stucco, various insect body parts, and some black bits of something. I wasn't seeing ants at this time, just this debris. What was causing it? Could it be carpenter ants?
Two weeks ago, the ants started showing up again. One here, then another, and in this room and that room. I collected a few and identified them as carpenter ants. They have been in the kitchen mostly. Strange. Not attacking food, just wandering around.
But the ants are now so numerous in the kitchen and other rooms that they are annoying me and my family. So we've decided to call a pest control company.
In the next few blog posts, I'll let you know about my experience and how the ant control is working.
Author - Associate Director for Urban & Community IPM/ Area Urban IPM Advisor
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