Family Pest Control Service in Charlotte North Carolina
About Our Service:
Hello, my name is Adam. I am a co-owner of Bulwark Exterminating, LLC. My family and co-workers work hard to create the highest quality pest control service. We are excited about the opportunity to serve you.
Carpenter ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) (Photo credit: Futureman1)
One of the most common and most destructive ant pests in the Charlotte, NC area is the Carpenter ant. In North Carolina, the Carpenter ant that is most frequently pestering homeowners is the Black Carpenter ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus). This species of Carpenter ant is also referred to as the Pennsylvania Carpenter ant. Whatever you want to call it, this ant species can be very destructive.
Carpenter Ants
One of the largest groupings of ant species is the Carpenter ant. They are most well known for their ability to tunnel through wood; and this is one of the primary reasons confuse Carpenter ants for termites. Carpenter ants do differ from termites, in that they do not eat the wood in which they tunnel. North Carolina Carpenter ants reach lengths of about 1/4 inch long, but a few ½ long ants have been spotted.
Normal Carpenter ants have black heads and abdomens, but have a dark red thorax. The Black Carpenter that North Carolina homeowners see is very similar in appearance, but is black all over. It’s important to note, that sometimes these ants can also have wings.
Carpenter Ant Destruction
Like I mentioned before, Carpenter ants build their nests in wooden structures in your home and on your property. Unused, rotten, or decaying wood seem to be the ant’s favorite nesting choices; but old, cracking furniture is also susceptible. This nesting behavior can be destructive.
Carpenter ant nesting habits destroy the integrity of wooden structures, including that of your house or furniture. These ants vigorously chew through wood, building tunnels for their nests. If you see piles of sawdust near a wooden structure on your property, it’s a good sign you have a pest problem… And that pest could be a Carpenter ant. It’s about this time you should have your home inspected by a licensed pest control professional.
Carpenter ants tending treehoppers (Photo credit: cotinis)
North Carolina Carpenter Ant Prevention
Get rid of vacant wood. Whether it’s an old decaying tree stump, abandoned construction materials, or a wood pile; get rid of it! Carpenter ants love to build their nest in this wood.
Fix leaks and eliminate standing water. Just like you and I, Carpenter ants need water to survive. Do not make it readily available.
Eradicate sources of food. Carpenter ants love to eat proteins, starches, and sweets. Clean up crumbs and food debris from around your home, and tightly seal food containers.
Close up wooden cracks with sealant. Cracks in tree stumps, wooden furniture, etc. are an open invitation for Carpenter ants to build a nest. Put up a closed sign by sealing up those cracks with a wood sealant or epoxy.
Get professional ant control. One sure-fire solution to keep those destructive Carpenter ants away is to hire an ant control professional who specializes in pest control for Carpenter ants.
North Carolina Pest Control For Carpenter Ants
If you suspect you may have Carpenter ants around your Charlotte, NC property, do not wait until it’s too late before you get some help. Waiting will only further damage the integrity of anything that’s made of wood which is located on your property. Get professional ant control!
Bulwark Exterminating
1801 North Tryon Street
Charlotte, NC 28206
(704) 321-3716 bulwarkpestcontrol.comA-1 Wildlife Control
Wilgrove-Minthill Road
Charlotte, NC 28227
(704) 334-1922 a1wildlifecontrol.netOrkin Pest & Termite Control
100 Reagan Drive #3
Charlotte, NC 28212
(866) 713-9979 orkin.com
One of the most diabolical pests found in the Charlotte, North Carolina area is the Red Imported Fire ant. While these ants bite, they are notorious for very painful stings. You want more bad news? Fire ant season is just around the corner. Fire ants are most active, building their mounds and stinging their victims, from April-September.
Red Imported Fire ants prefer to build their mounds in open, sunny yards that are mowed and watered regularly. That is the majority of yards in North Carolina. Chances are you’ve come across the malevolent ants once or twice; and that means you can be stung.
Fire Ant Stings
A human leg three days after coming in brief contact with a fire ant colony (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If you are stung by a fire ant, you will know it immediately. Stings begin as little red marks, and are accompanied by moderate pain. The sting will eventually turn into white pustules or blisters. Fire ant stings will go away after several days, unless the area becomes infected.
There are no other stinging ants in North America. So if you get stung by an ant, you can pretty much assume it’s a fire ant.
Reactions To Fire Ant Stings
Pain
Redness
Blistering
Swelling & Inflammation
Wooziness
Itchiness
Wheezing
Confusion & Disorientation
Vomiting
Treating Fire Ant Stings
If you have been stung by a fire ant, and are experiencing some of the more severe reactions (vomiting, light-headed, etc.), seek medical attention immediately. If you know you are allergic to bees, wasps, or other insects; you need to be very cautious of fire ant stings. There will likely be an allergic connection, and you will need medical attention.
If you’ve been stung by a fire ant, and are not experiencing allergic reactions, stay calm. You will be in pain for awhile. Take a pain reliever. Clean the infected sting area out with watered down bleach, ammonia, or meat tenderizer. This will help denature the fire ant’s venom.
Preventing Fire Ant Stings
Preventing Fire Ant stings is about taking extreme precautions. If you see a fire ant mound, keep your distance. Point them out to your children, and teach them to keep their distance. If you disturb their mounds in any way, the worker ants will spill out of the nest and aggressively attack the intruder. If you step on a fire ant mound on accident, multiple ants can crawl up you leg and sting repeatedly.
To best ensure your home and property are not infested by stinging fire ants, you need professional ant control.
Fire Ant Extermination In North Carolina
Bulwark Exterminating
1801 North Tryon Street
Charlotte, NC 28206
(704) 321-3716 bulwarkpestcontrol.com
A woman reached out to Channel 9 News in Charlotte, claiming she got bedbugs from the Homewood Suites Hotel while she was in town during CIAA weekend.
The woman, identified as Stephanie Eason, claims she took the bedbugs home with her without even knowing it, and now they are now infesting her Raleigh, NC home.
Eason said she checked into the hotel on February 28, 2013. During her three night stay, her and her friend saw what appeared to be bugs crawling on the couch inside their room. She contacted the hotel staff, who immediately came and sprayed to room for bugs.
It’s about the room was sprayed, that Eason began noticing red welts on her legs. She determined them to be bites; bites from the notorious bedbug.
Charlotte Hotel Treated For Bedbugs
Eason contacted the County Health department who investigated the matter. It was determined that the Homewood Suites Hotel did in fact have bedbugs.
Before the Country Health Department had arrived, the Hotel had been very proactive in treating the bedbug infestation. The room had been closed down, along with three other adjacent rooms. The rooms were treated by pest control professionals.
Eason also sought the services of a Raleigh pest control professional to eliminate the bedbugs from her Raleigh home. She is seeking compensation for the incident, and working with the hotel’s insurance company.
Bed Bug (Photo credit: agrilifetoday)
Bedbugs
Bedbugs are malevolent bloodsucking insects that are easily transferred from hotels, buses, taxis, to apartments and homes. Bedbugs are reddish-brown in color. The are flat, and look much like an apple seed.
Bedbugs hide in the bedding, mattresses, carpet and furniture; emerging to feed on human hosts. Bedbugs need blood to survive, and are very resilient and hard to eliminate. If you fear you have brought bedbugs into your home, contact a pest control professional immediately.
Charlotte, NC Pest Control
General Pest Control
Bulwark Exterminating
1801 North Tryon Street
Charlotte, NC 28206
(704) 321-3716 bulwarkpestcontrol.com
A-1 Wildlife Control
Wilgrove-Minthill Road
Charlotte, NC 28227
(704) 334-1922 a1wildlifecontrol.net
Bedbug Control
On Point Bed Bug Killing Services
915 N New Hope Rd # E1
Gastonia, NC 28054
(704) 964-6280
Reliable Bed Bug Removal Services
301 10th St NW # F1o
Conover, NC 28613
(704) 325-9016
Everyone here at Bulwark would like to give Charlotte and its surrounding cities a giant Valentine’s Day hug. Everybody deserves to have a valentine this year. At Bulwark, we thought we’d surprise some unsuspecting, but very deserving people to show our appreciation.
Last week we sent out an order of flowers and chocolates to three of our favorite news casters on television: Natalie Pasquarella from TV 9, Dianne Gallagher from NBC Charlotte and Kelli Bartik from FOX Charlotte – all lovely and professional young ladies. Without being too creepy-viewer, we thought flowers and chocolate was the best and safest item to send. Every girls like flowers, right?
Kelli even posted a picture of her flowers on her twitter page. We appreciate the shout-out, Kelli.
Last week we also released our newest video. We created it specially for Valentine’s Day and sent a link to all three ladies for them to view. Take a look.
We certainly don’t want to let you all make the same mistake, so here is a small checklist of things to do before Thursday.
- Schedule Babysitter
- Make dinner reservations or buy homemade meal ingredients
- Buy a semi-expensive bottle of wine
- And chocolates
- Call Bulwark Exterminating (This one is REALLY important, we can’t stress it enough.)
Only in a college town
Here’s a funny story for you. When I was in my last year of college, my girlfriend (now wife), was in school with me as well. I had a night class on Valentine’s Day and the teacher promised she would let us out early. After getting out of class 15 minutes late, and I without any plans, started to drive around town looking for a place to eat. I picked her up, and we headed over to Outback Steakhouse (Gimme a break! I was in college!). Wait time? FOUR hours! “That’ll be like, midnight?” I asked the girl. “Yeah, about”, she responded. We grabbed some pizza on the way home, popped in a movie at home, then called it a night. We both had class early the next morning.
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