This is the second summer in which I’ve found in our 3-season (closed in but with no heating/air conditioning) porch little piles of shavings on the floor.
What it looks like is bits of sawdust plus something a little more sticky. I could NOT figure out what was dropping these or where from. The droppings had a diameter of about 1 foot, close to a wall, so I surmised that they were falling from the ceiling. I’d let the density of shavings/droppings accumulate to about 2/3 per square inch before cleaning it.
This summer a second “pile” emerged, and it helped locate the source. In the corner where the ceiling meets the wall, between the sheets of plywood on the ceiling, there is a very small hole. It was small enough that I hadn’t seen it before.
A couple days ago I finally saw an ant crawl into the hole. Damnit! Ants in the attic! They apparently go out the hole to poop and drop pieces of wood they’ve ripped from somewhere.
So, I’ve been mulling filling the hole with spackling paste, which might hold them at bay for a couple of summers. However, I’m wondering if they could be doing some damage that should be addressed by exterminators.
I’d have to say that filling the hole is going to do nothing really at all. Your best bet would be to go take a look up there (and maybe leave an ant bomb behind) and see what’s going on. At first I was going to say that it doens’t seem like enough sawdust to be a problem, but upon thinking about I realized that, that’s all the ants dropeed, who knows what’s going on in the attic (termites??) Like I said before, I would take a look before making any decisions.
It sounds like you could have drywood termites. The sawdust, technically frass’ deposits can be a sign. Even if you saw an ant entering a hole that doesn’t tell you anything. It could be unassociated with the frass you have found, or it could be that the ants are feeding on the termites.
Given the amount of damage termites can do the sensible thing to do would be to make sure. The local university, museum or any decent pest control firm sould be able to identify the problem if you can collect some of the frass for examination. If not then get someone in. Better to be safe than sorry.
I wouldn’t want to run afoul of the insect lovers, but how much of your blood would you need to see dripping out onto the patio before you thought the mosquitoes might be a possible problem? It scarcely matters just which insects are eating your home, it matters that insects are eating your home.
This leaves two reasonable options – live in idyllic harmony with nature, and accept the fact that there are more of them than there are of you, and that gives them the democratic majority to evict you; or – Call an exterminator! Like, today.
Yeah, I’ve got to say that it doesn’t sound like ants to me. I’ve got ants in my house and they just wander up and down the walls in a neat little line and keep to themselves. I also reckon that they’re quite clean and prolly eat any dirt that may be left around, so I don’t kill them.
Ants wouldn’t rip wood to shreds - I may be wrong but sounds like termites or woodworm…
Although carpenter ants aren’t as likely as termites to cause massive damage, they still aren’t desirable housemates. And because they prefer moist wood, their presence could indicate the presence of a leak in the roof.
Funny you mention that, the mosquitos are a problem on the porch (the windows are just storm windows that don’t close properly).
Now I feel kind of stupid for asking. I’ve been plowing cash into this house and desperatly held on to hope against all odds that I could deal with this w/o spending more money.
I’m not sure the wood shavings are wood shavings. They just look like them, but they’re too small for me to do some test.
When I bought the house and the inspector did his rounds I asked about termites, and he said they don’t check for them because Minnesota is too cold to have termite problems. But it could be some other insect problem.
I’ve been doing spot checks on the area to try to catch what was dropping crap out of the hole, and only saw one ant once, so it may not be the culprit, but so far it’s the leading contender. I only saw the ant for a fraction of a second before it popped back up into the hole. It looked like a standard black ant ~2-3mm in length – but again I only saw it for a fraction of a second.
I would just go up in the attic to investigate, but the attic access is on the other side of the house and I have an irrational fear of spiders :eek:
It sounds as if you have carpenter ants. If so, you may have a major problem. Wait until it gets dark and then shine a light at the hole. You should then see more ants. To get rid of carpenter ants you must find and kill the queen. Not an easy task. I had them in a hollow door one winter. I drilled holes in the side of the door and ants by the thousands came out. It was ten below zero outside so I put the door out into a snow bank, thinking that I could freeze them out… Two days later the ants were still alive. Had to burn the door.
As Finagle said, carpenter ants like wet wood. For an attic, common sources of moisture are leaks and poor ventilation (covered soffits, broken ventilation fans, etc.).
From what I have read, the best way to get rid of them is to get rid of the moisture. The ants will simply move somewhere else. It is a great idea to get an exterminator to help them on their way. If it turns out you have carpenter ants, make sure you find the source of the moisture, otherwise the ants will come back.