The shavings, in the first photo below, are typical of what an inspector might see inside the home. And it is not caused by a lousy housekeeper. Although I suppose one could argue that a good housekeeper would keep a step ahead of the ants.

Carpenter ants are one of the few wood destroying organisms that tends to give itself away that it is working in the home. Note, I said "working" and not "dining." Carpenter ants are building their own home, inside your home. Because they DO NOT eat wood, they tend to toss out bits of shavings, known as frass. This will often have black bug parts in it, the remnants of what they have been eating. The top photo, while greatly enlarged, is some frass on a medicine cabinet at a home in the woods. One also saw their frass up at the trim around the ceiling and walls. The good thing about carpenter ants is they are visible and, long term, that results in less damage than that caused by so many wood destroying organisms. For example, termites are sneaky and almost never seen, so homeowners are happy and smiling as the termites eat the house. Ants on the other hand are in your face, parading across the kitchen table, getting in bedrooms and bathrooms. For that reason, people, who might not even know the ants are damaging the home, get grossed out and call a pest control operator. In so doing, they save damage to the home.

The clue!

Ants working in wood, compliments of Charles Buell, active rain member

Thanks for looking,

Steven L. Smith

www.kingofthehouse.com