Carpenter ants are annoying; hyenas would be worse

Today’s question:

Can you tell me what is the sawdustlooking stuff commonly found around ant hills in Arizona?

I’m can’t say so for 100 percent certain, but chances are that sawdustlooking stuff you’re seeing is sawdust and it isn’t found at just any anthill or only in Arizona. You have carpenter ants.

Do not be alarmed. Things could be worse. You could have a pack of hyenas living in your garage. Still, carpenter ants can be sort of annoying.

In Arizona some carpenter ants build their nests in the ground, but they prefer wood — dry, moist, or rotting.

They don’t actually eat the wood. They just dig out their tunnels and cavities and nests in it. That’s why you are finding sawdust around their hills.

Their real diet consists of living or dead insects and the sweet stuff they find in your food scraps.

Even if they’re not eating wood, they are not doing your house any good. Their tunnels can cause cosmetic damage and in worst-case scenarios can weaken the structural integrity of a structure.

You can call an exterminator or you can dust the carpenter ants’ nests and tunnels with food-grade diatomaceous earth. Your hardware store or nursery sells it.

I have been noticing that I am seeing more contrails than usual in the last year. Are there actually more than in the past? We were wondering if the dry air

here caused them to last longer.

I take up this question the greatest reluctance. I know how worked up some of you people get about this subject.

You may be seeing more contrails for any number of reasons, but dry air isn’t one of them.

Contrails are more likely to form and keep their shape when the moisture content of the air on the upper atmosphere is high rather than low.