If you have carpenter ants in your house you have rotten wood in your house.

ANTS
Look up ants.
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/A/index.html

In other words you have wood in your house that was chemically altered when
it was part of a living tree.
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT20...galleries.html

They will find this wood in your house. Its amazing how they know its
there. Just like some creature new there was carpenter ants inside this
tree. It really wanted them ants bad.
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT20...-cavities.html

Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.




I have an ant problem that I ignore every summer, but I am about to
have my first child and am taking care of loads of things around the
house that I have been putting off, so I figured I would take care of
this too...

I live in central Alabama. Hot and ussually humid. Black ant hills and
fire ant hills in my yard are annoying, but I live with them. I dont
run around in my yard so they dont bother me. I just run over them
with a lawn mower, laugh about it, and avoid the area for about a
day.

Luckily, it hasnt rained here in weeks so they are very dormant now
(and pretty ticked off! MUHAHAHA!)

However, I have a 3rd type of ant which I assume to be a "FLORIDA
CARPENTER ANT" (more details he
http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/carp.htm
)

they are black and red. Not small, but certainly not 1950s-era horror
movie size either.

I rarely see them on the ground but mostly see them on my fascia board
around my house. I may even spot them slipping in and out a small
crack in my facia boards (where they meet) around my house. My first
reaction is "They live in my house!". I freak out, then realize I have
NEVER seen an ant in my house (termites are a different story, but
never an ant...knock on semi-digested wood), so they don't bother me,
I dont bother them. But at this point, it's just plain unsettling to
think about. I dont walk much in my addic, so I cant say if they live
there or not, but I will say (And this may be the problem) that I have
gutters... that, yes (hanging my head in shame) do collect water from
time to time... okay, much of the time. And I can only assume these
ants are digging that seemingly endless water supply which is how they
can survive so far off the ground...

Do any of you know-more-than-me people have any suggestions for
killing these outdoor pests? I hate to think of them creating a colony
within the wood of my home... albeit, they arent coming IN my house,
but wait till that one wise ant realizes that the box of ceral in teh
cupboard isnt all that far away and tells all his buddies!

Ive heard of Terro and people seem to have good luck with it, but my
issue is outside and pretty much on the top half of my house.. tried
amdro... and ive literally seen the red ants pick it up, move it a
foot or so away from the mount, and come back to move another... it is
like they got the memo that it is poison.

thanks SO MUCH in advance!
Jazz Mann