# Carpenter ant crawlspace question



## Dave Sal (Dec 20, 2012)

Sounds like you got the majority of the nest. In addition to sealing up the entry, I'd take it a step further and put some poison in their path and let them eat it up and take it back to the nest and feed it to the queen. Check out Terro liquid ant killer. I've used it for years with great success in the house during the spring when tiny ants show up in a below grade family room. I put out the Terro, about 5 drops on a 1" square of cardboard, and they come within half an hour and gorge themselves. This goes on for a couple of days and then they are gone. They apparently take it back to the nest, feed it to the queen and the youngsters and they all die. I'm currently doing the same thing outside by the deck but this time with big black ants (maybe carpenter ants) that I've seen walking along a fence rail. The big ones also seem to enjoy the Terro, and it's been four days now and they keep coming back for more. I'll keep supplying the Terro as long as they keep eating it. :devil3:


----------



## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Dave, I have a picture somewhere similar to yours and it was interesting to watch them come and go. And as you said, a few days later they were gone. Still waiting this year (knock on wood) to see if they return. Fingers crossed.

Bud


----------



## giansean (Mar 4, 2015)

Didn't realize that while trying to light the area better I snapped a photo of the fruitless efforts to escape. Anyway, this is good because there is a good pic of the frass and some trails/blobs (why do they smell so bad BTW?). There was some activity in the bay to the right of the pic as well but not nearly as much as these two.

The second pic which I DID mean to take is obviously the end of the ant-pocalypse. Notable not for it's raw carnage but the number of larvae.

I will pick up some Terro later as well - read a bit more and apparently it's good stuff. Thanks for the tip Dave.


----------



## giansean (Mar 4, 2015)

So as a followup, a few days ago I picked up some Terro baits and some Ortho barrier (and some more Raid lol). I placed the Terro out where they were still moving into the gap at the corner of the deck ledger and the band joist that is up against the brick facing of the house. I can't see them coming through the other side so I assume they are at least in some part hanging out between the joist and the brick... hopefully not digging around in there too much... it will be a giant PITA to replace that wood. 

I can't really see a big problem with water... even though the board is up against brick, the inside that wall is a walk-in cellar and doesn't get moist. Hopefully they are just looking for alternatives. Hopefully not up inside the wall above

At any rate, it took them a night but they started hitting the bait pretty systematically. I followed their trail back to a large maple tree we have in the backyard about 15 feet or so from the house, so assumed that is HQ and put some bait down at the bottom of the trunk. The only problem is, pavement ants are showing up at the party too. Hopefully the carpenters will pick off the dead ones and feed them to the tribe as well. I'll keep tabs on them and when all is complete I'll spray some vinegar to kill the trails and then spray a barrier against the house and known suspect areas. 

If the above is not a sound plan or there are other things I can/should try, appreciate any input!

Thx!


----------



## giansean (Mar 4, 2015)

So tonight they decided to bring the fight to me. Almost nothing outside after 11pm (maybe a little in and out and bait tapping before that) but then around midnight they all pretty much decided to invade our house, dozens total, but seemingly 1-2 at a time. Took me a while to figure out they were coming in through the floor registers, which means they must have found a way into the flex. Awesome!

I can't explain why they'd choose now to come in. Either it's because their satellite nest (or main nest) is gone and they are hunting, or because the weather suddenly changed from like 75 at night to below 60, OR because they have been through a lot and are in some sort of survival/panic mode. Don't have enough experience with it, and wasn't going for long term. Tonight the can of Raid was my friend.

Gotta put a stop to this!


----------

