Vacation Recap - I'm Not Anti-Ant

Earlier this week the technician from the pest control company we contracted to take care of our carpenter ant issue came to the house and worked on getting at the colony that we determined was occupying an area around one of our bedroom windows.

I had done some research ahead of time on what to expect from the exterminator.  We chose Fowler and Sons Termite and Pest Control from Hyannis based on a good recommendation from a friend/neighbor/real estate agent.  I had horrible visions of a bill over $1k to seek and destroy the colony.  The estimate provided by Mr Kelley was a great relief.  Two options:

Option one - a foundation perimeter spray (and a repeat in a couple weeks) for $185.  No guarantee with this option.  The ants walking through the treated areas eventually perish and also bring the chemical to other ants.  Over time - weeks - the colony would probably die.

Option two - the same perimeter spray as above and a direct blast of chemical into the suspected colony by drilling small holes into the wall either through the window, or through the attic.  $350 with a 90-day guarantee.

Option two was the obvious choice.  We were likely going to have to leave the house for a few hours  Thanks to a brilliant idea by Mrs, we popped up the camper and set it up with two dog crates to house the cats.  I had no idea what to do with them.  This was a great option.  My plan was to load the dogs into the 4Runner and drive around for a while to keep them safe in the A/C.

The gentleman who arrived to handle the job is a partner in this local small business with almost 30 years in the business.  No need to leave the house all day.  The cats could come back in not long after he was finished and the dogs could go back outside after the perimeter spray had dried.  He started with the perimeter spray and gave me some pointers as he went.  Namely cutting back vegetation so that nothing touched the house.  there is only need for an inch of clearance so that the ants cannot use the leaves as a bridge over the foundation spray.

Armed only with a cordless drill, the nifty powered chemical injector (pictured below) and a couple other things, he went to work on the window.  After getting no results (we were looking for a mass evacuation of ants), he moved on to the attic.  We believed and he confirmed that the colony was in the header of the window.  In the attic he was able to drill down into the wall space and header and inject the fog into the space.

I watched anxiously from outside and very soon ants were pouring out of the sill.  Thankfully they were forced outside and not inside the bedroom.

This is a shot of just some of the many carpenter ants displaced from the colony on the window sill.  It did not take long and soon enough they dropped to the ground.

I was concerned about the chemicals, but the products used were things that anyone familiar with flea and tick control are familiar with.  Pyrethrins in the walls and fipronyl on the foundation...  Fipronyl is used in Frontline at a concentration of 9.8%, and in this application at a much lower concentration.  I think you can even move that decimal point to the left a couple spaces.  So I have no concerns about what was done here.  We've seen only a couple ants wondering aimlessly in the house since, as opposed to a dozen or more each day.

I am pleased that we decided to go with a small, local company and not a big corporate conglomerate that forces customers into monthly treatment contracts.  Thank you Fowler and Sons.