In the wonderful world of termite and pest control, there have been many new innovations over the years which claim to stop anything from munching away at the home or work place.
Termite bait though has improved to the point where the whole colony can be wiped out without the need for doing some rather intensive digging and drilling that used to be the way.
These days, great companies have come with some rather high-tech ways of getting rid of these pests which do not include pouring gallons of toxic chemicals into and onto the ground.
Because of this high-tech approach, the colony can be wiped out over a matter of time which leaves the building that they have been eating intact to survive for many more years.
The odd thing about these little creatures is that very often, the homeowner does not know they are there until it is way too late.
Because they eat timbers and soft materials from the inside out, once they have been seen it is often too late to save that timber.
This may not be so bad if it is a tree or some living thing, but consider the problems if the timber is part of a house or building.
Indeed, very often people will only notice when the timber feels a little hollow to the touch.
Sometimes, it is only the paint layers which are holding it together and the whole thing has to be replaced and these little devils eradicated if the homeowner is to have peace of mind.
Another way of spotting if these animals have invades is if long lines of mud like substance is seen around wood of any kind inside or outside the home.
What these insects do is to traverse concrete or inedible materials by building tunnels out of mud sot that they can walk from one food source to another without drying out their bodies.
Merely brushing these away will simply make them work harder at getting to where they want to go and the brown lines appear magically overnight time and time again.
That is, until something more permanent is sorted out! These newer systems of eradication do not include digging huge trenches around the property which make it look like it is in the middle of a war zone! Rather, they simply push feeding stations into the ground at regular intervals around the home.
By monitoring all the feeding stations over time, the contractor can work out which way the colony is getting into the building and concentrate the bait laying in that area alone.
Not only is this safer for the ground, since less chemicals are being used at any given time, but the contractor always knows where these little eating machines are and can deal with them more effectively.
The homeowner does not have to worry about children or household pets getting into the chemicals.
Indeed, never has the art of chasing away detrimental creatures been so high-tech.
Even computers are used in this ongoing battle of stopping them from eating through the whole nation!