Welcome to Critter Country
Posted on April 12th, 2008 by Jonathan Dalton
And we’re not referring to the former home of the greatly-missed Bear Country Jamboree at Disneyland. (Tangent warning: Pooh Corner sucks. Bring back Big Al. End of tangent.)
No, today we’re talking about the one critter that seems to be dreaded more than any other even though treatment and elimination is relatively straight-forward. We give you … the termite.
Want to see one? Theoretically there’s one in the photograph below. (Note: I never did see a thing, though my termite and home inspectors were very excited. After about 30 seconds I had a hunch I was watching a flea circus, but that’s another story.)
When a termite inspector goes out to a house, it’s not the actual termites they’re trying to find. Instead it is the termite tubes that are the giveaway. Most are small and only can be found if you’re trying to find them. Others are not.
Termites can be eliminated fairly reliably if a full house treatment is conducted. Almost all new homes comes with some sort of termite warranty. All that is asked is that the pest company come out once a year to check for tubes and make sure all is well.
Repeat problems take place when homeowners go for the quick (and cheaper) fix and decide to treat only the area in which the termites are found. Being fairly resilient little buggers, the termites simply move to another are and continue on building tubes.
Here’s a little-known fact … did you know that the cracks in your driveway and garage separating the slab into quadrants are almost never treated? Wanna know what the result looks like?
There’s a perception that a home with termites is about to collapse unto itself. After all, unlike crickets and roaches and scorpions, the termites are eating the house itself. If left unchecked, they can do a decent amount of damage. But it’s not at all what you grew up watching in the old Tom and Jerry cartoons when a single termite eats an entire home in about 12 seconds.
And speaking of cartoons and termites, and at the risk of sounding like Larry Cragun on a “Don’t Bug Me Saturday,” did you know that Warner Bros.’ old cartoon studio, the home of Looney Tunes and Bugs Bunny, was known as “Termite Terrace”? Neither did I.
In any event, if you have the critters get the treatment. And I’d say to spend the extra couple hundred bucks and get the whole treatment. If the termites are going to have to relocate, you may as well send them all the way to your neighbor’s yard.
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I prefer critters to bugs. Hello Phoenix.
In SoCal the dang things have wings. Your ‘clearance’ today pretty much ends when the cousins next door decide it’s time to visit.
It’s my understanding you guys are beginning to see the winged version yourself. Is that happening?
Winged? Haven’t seen those here at least not to my knowledge. But I’ll run this past one of my bug guys and see.
Eeeesh.
One of my termite inspectors told me that ‘a select few’ of the termites in a colony can have wings - that they are specially bred in a colony.
I would say about 1 out of every 4 or 5 homes I deal with has had termites. Found them last year at my own home coming through the column between the 2 bay and single bay garage- surrounded by at least 6 feet of concrete in all directions….such a bummer - but you know what they say in Arizona….”There are only two types of homes, the ones that have termites and the ones that will have termites.”