Reckoning Day

The termites have been relentless (but so are the goats) and since our friend wants to come back to a house and not 4 concrete walls, he got a few estimates from exterminators. I thought that you’d like to hear how they do things here. Compare experiences for some of you…

Carlos, the man who got the job, was highly recommended by other gringos in the area who had good experiences with him.

He came to inspect the house with a mask on. We showed him the tracks inside and outside of the house and the tracks in the shed out back, but he found them all himself. He just knew where to look! Chris had cleaned most of the tunnels from the walls but of course you can still faintly see them.

Carlos said that arboreal termites usually have two nests and they forage between the two nests. The house is between the two nests, and has lots of wood in the ceiling and beams. He said that the nests would have to go. Five people would come and would work for 6-7 hours. We would have to vacate for the day.

So on Tuesday, they arrived, punctually, three women and two men. We stayed around for an hour to see what would be done. It is an interesting process.

The boss got a ladder and started breaking up the nest in the tree with a claw hammer. The nest is really hard to break. Then each ‘room’ was injected with a poison which would kill the termites and hopefully the queen. The pieces of the nest that fell to the ground were also sprayed.

A shallow trench was dug around the base of house and poison injected into it .

All the interior and exterior wooden ceilings and roof would be coated with a preventative substance.

A lady took the covers off of all of the electrical outlets and put a powder into every one. Termites travel via the electrical wires in a house and will eat the wires too.

The wooden pillars got a similar treatment. Apparently moth beetles, woodworms, are eating those too. They leave a pile of sawdust around the wood that they eat so you can see where they are.

Branches in the trees beside the house with tunnels were going to be cut and the trees sprayed.

The bodega (shed/garage) needed to be sprayed and then holes drilled into the concrete floor and poison put in there also. The warranty for this work is for a year.

The poison that they use will kill any termites or insects that are in or around or on the house. It was suggested that we go somewhere from 8 - 5 but apparently it is safe for us to sleep there at night. Hmmmn.

So we left but it would have been interesting to see the rest of the process. Hopefully,, everything works out well, and those critters have taken their last stand.Read more