We got those big black ants this year too. Definately worth hiring an exterminator. My kid sister got them one year & ignored it, within two years they got really nasty. They're not AS distructive as termites, but over time they can cause some serious damage.

You can buy a spray called Bug Stop by Spectrecide It works great last for 9 months in side and out.
This worked when nothing else would.

I agree with Roseanne. Call an exterminator, they don't charge all that much and they'll find them and wipe them out. Then after you get rid of them you can do your own maintenance spraying.

Left untreated or partially treated, carpenter ants can be super-destructive, they're almost as bad as termites. BTDT.

Carpenter ants will be coming to look for moisture. You can help keep them out by making sure there are no leaks or moist spots in the house. Watch the outside of the house to see where they are coming and going from, then a spray on just that spot will kill them as they walk through it. Keep following them away from the house to find their nest and destroy it.

Carpenter ants are tough. They get into your foundation, fences, trees, etc. Getting rid of a whole colony is difficult. Baiting is usually best (we tried it all). Home remedies are placebos. The best solution we found for inside with the animals was to bait along the trail with Advance Carpenter Ant Bait (Whitmore Micro-Gen). I have a direct 800 number if you need it. It is TOXIC which is why it WORKS. Boric acid just doesn't seem to get the job done on big colonies of carpenter ants and fire ants. We had to make sure to put it where the cats would not get to it. But to be honest, my cats won't eat anything that is not in their special bowel (Each has their own. They don't eat out of each other's bowel either which makes it easy to see who's the pig of the duo. :thumbup: )

When I see an unusual amount of ants, I think of bad weather coming that year..the ants know

put out cornmeal where they are coming in at . The ants take it back to the nest and they die

Not big black ants, but outside , wherever I pull out weeds, around mulch, under rocks, tiny tiny black ants by the thousands!! I've never seen so many ants as we've had this year. Thank God they are outside!!

Yes, they are carpenters ants. Our exterminator sprayed and followed the ants route and found the mother lode in a tree hole. There were soooo many ants, it was a little creepy. But that is nothing compared to the scorpions and snakes we have seen.

Kids like using a black light to find scorpions. They fluoresce under UV light (love that glow). We've finally gotten a handle on the huge fire ant colony on our street. It took everyone treating for them at the same time or they just moved the entrance to the main colony to an untreated yard. What a pain. Ants, termites and those 2 inch cockroaches seem to rule down here. Not real fond of any of them.