carpenter ants and scammers

ATH

ATH

Been here much more than a while
Location
Findlay, Ohio
I got a call from somebody I don't think I've ever met. Volunteer tree commissioner from a nearby town. I think she asked somebody on staff in the town and they told her to call me. That is to say, I only know what she told me on the phone:

Anyhow...her sister had somebody out to take care of trees. Apparently, they told her 3 trees needed removed, so they did that. Then they told her that there were carpenter ants in the trees and since they took those trees trees, the ants would be looking for a new home so they would kill her other trees. They offered to treat her yard (not sure what that means...either the "treat" or "yard" part) for a "discounted" price of $6500! Do people really go for that??? Just hearing that, I'm honestly doubting whether the trees needed removed. What scum portraying themselves as an expert while either not knowing what they are doing (if I'm being generous in my assumptions) or flat out crooked.
 
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Never seen that particular scam here, but we sure have enough clueless customers being taken in by unscrupulous or ignorant salesmen masquerading as tree experts around here. It is crazy some of what people can be talked into by some guy in a nice polo and a new truck who talks well. (Disclaimer: I wear a nice polo, drive a new truck, and talk well too) I feel bad for some of these people as they lose not just money, but also a tree that has been there for decades and can’t be replaced without decades of waiting.
 
years ago followed up with a side job bid (minimal deadwood mainly/ some roof clearance)
when I got there the tree was gone... Older woman said someone else knocked on her door and told her that her tree had bugs so she removed it.... she got scammed... that hustle has been around...
"bugs" oh Brother!
 
RogerM said:
years ago followed up with a side job bid (minimal deadwood mainly/ some roof clearance)
when I got there the tree was gone... Older woman said someone else knocked on her door and told her that her tree had bugs so she removed it.... she got scammed... that hustle has been around...
"bugs" oh Brother!
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I get calls frequently from people who tell me that their tree has ants, the ants are destroying the tree, so it must be removed. Sorry, but ants are not destroying the tree, they are eating only deadwood. At least in this area, there are no ants that eat living wood.
 
Reach said:
I get calls frequently from people who tell me that their tree has ants, the ants are destroying the tree, so it must be removed. Sorry, but ants are not destroying the tree, they are eating only deadwood. At least in this area, there are no ants that eat living wood.
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People just don't always believe it. I point them to Extension publications so they don't think I'm the clueless one:

Carpenter Ants in Trees

This past summer, the BEHT Team inspected a tree where a pile of sawdust had accumulated around the base of the trunk. It was carpenter ants, (Camponotus spp.) working within a compromised tree. Read more about carpenter ants and rot in trees.
bygl.osu.edu bygl.osu.edu
 
ATH said:
People just don't always believe it. I point them to Extension publications so they don't think I'm the clueless one:

Carpenter Ants in Trees

This past summer, the BEHT Team inspected a tree where a pile of sawdust had accumulated around the base of the trunk. It was carpenter ants, (Camponotus spp.) working within a compromised tree. Read more about carpenter ants and rot in trees.
bygl.osu.edu bygl.osu.edu
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No, they don’t always believe it. I keep a stack of article links handy for such people, I will have to hang onto that one as well.
 
flyingmosstreen said:
And granted this was in his dictionary copyright 1986, thought provoking though. There’s got to be more research out there
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Some interesting work by Tom Wessels (Reading the Forested Landscape), the well known "forensic ecologist". He has described how after an initial injury (wind damage or hit by falling limbs or other trees) forest eastern hemlock he's studied suffer progressive fungal invasion into damaged areas. With the wood softened up carpenter ants move in and easily carve out their nest galleries. This is followed by pileated woodpeckers who efficiently dig out the galleries and eat all the ants. By the end of this process it's like the tree visited a dentist, the cavity is cleaned of ants and rotted wood, the hemlock grows callus tissue and covers the cavity openings including the initial pileated wp diggings to access the cavity. The hemlocks he studied going through this process end up in good shape structurally and continue as reasonably healthy forest trees. These were trees in New Hampshire before Hemlock Wooly Adelgid showed up.
-AJ
 
moss said:
Some interesting work by Tom Wessels (Reading the Forested Landscape), the well known "forensic ecologist". He has described how after an initial injury (wind damage or hit by falling limbs or other trees) forest eastern hemlock he's studied suffer progressive fungal invasion into damaged areas. With the wood softened up carpenter ants move in and easily carve out their nest galleries. This is followed by pileated woodpeakers who completely dig out the galleries and eat all the ants. By the end of this process it's like the tree visited a dentist, the cavity is cleaned of rotted wood, the hemlock grows callus tissue and completely covers the cavity openings including the initial pileated wp diggings to access the cavity. The hemlocks he studied going through this process end up in good shape structurally and continue as reasonably healthy forest trees. These were trees in New Hampshire before Hemlock Wooly Adelgid showed up.
-AJ
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Like a well oiled machine. That’s cool.
 
moss said:
Some interesting work by Tom Wessels (Reading the Forested Landscape), the well known "forensic ecologist". He has described how after an initial injury (wind damage or hit by falling limbs or other trees) forest eastern hemlock he's studied suffer progressive fungal invasion into damaged areas. With the wood softened up carpenter ants move in and easily carve out their nest galleries. This is followed by pileated woodpeckers who efficiently dig out the galleries and eat all the ants. By the end of this process it's like the tree visited a dentist, the cavity is cleaned of ants and rotted wood, the hemlock grows callus tissue and covers the cavity openings including the initial pileated wp diggings to access the cavity. The hemlocks he studied going through this process end up in good shape structurally and continue as reasonably healthy forest trees. These were trees in New Hampshire before Hemlock Wooly Adelgid showed up.
-AJ
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My neighbor gave me this book not too long ago. I haven’t actually gotten to it yet! I suppose it is time.
 
ATH said:
Never saw that. Certainly an interesting proposal that they reduce decay. I wonder if anyone has tried to set up a controlled experiment on that?
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I’ve noted many carpenter ant nests excising decay in their galleries right to a defined barrier zone.

I’ve questioned if this ‘cleaning’ stalled out the decay or even had something to do with building a strong barrier zone.
 
I see every scam under the sun here unfortunately, including that one. It comes with the territory of an over saturated market full of incompetent hustlers. Often times it’s hard to even change peoples minds if you happen to get there early enough to voice reason.

Just two days ago I consulted with a client over a property line tree and neighbor dispute. The neighbor was a POS and wanted the tree gone, despite it not being theirs. It was pruned ground to sky on their side and said ants were killing the tree to scare the client. They were even so kind to offer to pay for half of the removal of a tree they destroyed:rolleyes:. The hardest part is telling the client that they should take them up on this deal despite it being the neighbors who caused the significant damage. The only silver lining is it will be one less Norway maple.
 
Oddly this is a breath of fresh air. Simply that it’s not unique to my area.

My partner overheard two wealthy guys at the cafe. Mildly contemplating the potential ramifications of their actions by hiring the local second gen silver spoon fed hack. Sumthin about a tree removal across a property line, a felling situation, insisting on 10k in cash and being done by 9:30 am.
The providers mama, is the largest landowner on the island and their family owned the local saw mill that shut down in the late 80’s
 
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