Common Types Of Pest Damage In Victoria
If you are building a new home or own an existing property in Victoria, you need regular pest inspections – predominantly as a deterrent against termite infestations. Termites find most homes in Victoria attractive because of their wood content. To a termite there is no difference between a tree and a house, making your home fair game.
While there are plenty of things you can do to discourage termites (avoiding water damage, keeping wood off the ground and plant foliage away from external walls), providing and maintaining a termite barrier around your home is essential to prevention.
Unseen damage can be deadly
Termites are more closely related to cockroaches than they are to ants but like ants they operate through an ordered social structure and army-like precision. You can have a major termite infestation in the structure of your home and not even know it.
A well-organised threat
Subterranean termites, the types of pest that damage your home, work as a highly organised colony. They dig tunnels for food storage and raising larvae with the colony directly connected to the preferred food source – your house!
Termite colonies are divided into allocated groups. The ‘reproductive’ group primarily consists of a king and a queen who are the only members of the colony to have eyes. The rest rely on scent and moisture trails to navigate. It’s worth noting that a termite queen can live for up to 25 years.
‘Soldiers’ are defenders, tasked with protecting the colony from invaders – usually ants and other termites – by secreting a toxic substance from their heads. Unlike bees, termite soldiers can be male or female.
‘Workers’ dig tunnels, build, gather food and feed everyone, including the king, queen, and soldiers. During this time of the year, with winter approaching, workers will dig deeper in search of warmth, making nests even harder to locate.
All types of pest damage in Victoria are avoidable
Some types of pest damage are more than apparent. Possums, rats and mice (and wombats in some areas) will leave droppings. Sometimes pests will chew through wires causing short circuits. Curtains and carpets can show damage from silverfish. But the type of damage termites do will be largely hidden from view, requiring sophisticated thermal imaging equipment to locate the colony and identify the correct treatment to properly eradicate it.
Regular inspections are a must
The best form of protection is with regular pest inspections that thoroughly check for pest damage and know how to identify and treat any pests that are present, before there is significant damage to your home.
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