Big Black Ants Eating Insulation?

Question

A tenant called me last night stating that she's been finding little piles of fiberglass insulation here and there the past week or so.  She was beginning to fear she has a mouse problem.  Then she said she saw quite a number of ants in the middle of her kitchen the other day, each one carrying a tuft of insulation in its mouth.

This is weird, and certainly a first for me.  I want to take care of this right away, of course.  Anybody else see this kind of situation?  How did you handle it?

I don't want to assume she has only an ant problem.  I don't know what ants would want with her insulation.  I can understand mice using it for bedding or something.  So I don't want to rule out either problem.

Derek Roach · Answer

Yes, eliminate the source first. Then apply some preventative techniques to keep them from coming back. Cutting down the tree is not necessary, however cut the branches that hang over the house a few feet back. This will eliminate an easy path for ants to access food and water sources.

Terri Pour-Rastegar · Answer

I did have a professional exterminator take care of it, and he used 2 kinds of poison, one of which they will take back to the nest to kill off the colony.

Removal of the tree is an extremely expensive proposition.  It is about 4 feet in diameter and a good 50 feet high or more.  It is quite healthy, except for this one little hole the ants found.  I'm going to fill the hole with a special resin designed for just this situation.  That should keep out all rain and critters and should help the tree along.

I had this tree limbed up by professionals last spring who indicated it is a healthy tree and will do fine for a long time.  They said it'd probably cost me at least $1500 to remove it due to the proximity of houses, power lines and the street.  I think we have a couple more decades before we need to remove this big, beautiful willow oak.  It's really a lovely tree and adds so much to the appeal of this home (and the street!).

Just Don · Answer

cut the tree down,,,it wont last long with them in there,,they will kill it soon,,and then dead branches kill your roof.

get a pro to get them dead for good. diamaceous earth works. Or residual poison they take back to there nest and kills the queen and whole colony

Eddie Ziv · Answer

This may help... or not...:)
http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef603.asp

Terri Pour-Rastegar · Answer

Replying to my own post here . . .

Turned out that there was a colony of carpenter ants living in a very big willow oak tree on the property.  The branches overhang that roof a little, and the little buggers were dropping down into the house via the roof.  We hosed them down thoroughly with ant pesticide, and they started dying immediately.  Hopefully, that will do the trick.