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It’s getting really hot in Bakersfield nowadays, as is to be expected during the summer. When the temperature gets this high, I don’t feel the desire to do much. I just want to sit on the couch with the air conditioner on and watch TV. Something about the heat just seems to sap the life right out of me.
Because of the triple-digit weather, it’s natural for things to slow down and for you to pay less attention to your surroundings, especially outside. Quite frankly, most of us are just trying to spend as little time as possible outdoors! But if you do that, you could miss the warning signs of termites.
Termites don’t have air conditioning, TV or anything else to capture their attention. They have only one goal: eat wood. And if they’ve found their way onto your property, that’s your wood they’re feeding on. If you’ve been paying too much attention to the thermostat instead of your surroundings, then you’d better keep reading. You might fit the description for one of the four reasons you need termite control.
1. Dead Tree Stump in the Yard
And here you thought it was just an eyesore you were too lazy or cheap to deal with. Surprise! Dead stumps are favorites of termites. And if they start hanging around there too much, they’ll eventually make their way to the house nearby.
2. Signs of Termites Outside
Termites tend to stay within your walls, but you can still find signs of their presence. If you notice significant piles of discarded wings outside your home, that’s a sign of “swarming” termites. Termites swarm when establishing a new nest, and then discard the wings shortly thereafter.
Mud tubes are another telltale sign. The name says it all: these look like little tubes of mud (I won’t tell you what they’re really made of) that can be found on your exterior walls, usually near the foundation. Termites use these tubes to travel safely from nest to feeding site.
3. Discovering Hollow-Sounding Wood in Home
Termites don’t like to be out in the open, so they prefer to eat in private – therefore, you’re not going to see them actively eating a piece of wood from the outside. Instead, they’ll eat their way through the inside of the wood. If you suspect termites, you should knock on pieces of wood in likely infestation areas. Should the pieces sound hollow, there’s a good chance termites have already made their way inside.
4. Termite Inside Home
This is pretty rare, and it’s almost always bad news. Remember how termites like to stay hidden? Well, if you actually see one inside crawling around inside the house, that usually means the infestation is out of hand. You need pest control services right way.
