Have you ever heard clicking, tapping, or rustling inside walls, especially during the nighttime, while walking from your bed to the kitchen? That would likely be the sound of termites eating up your favorite book rack or the subfloor. Obviously, anyone living in Australia has at some point gone through a termite attack and is always on the hunt for termite detection and prevention strategies.
Because termites are the most frequently visiting pests in homes and offices across Melbourne. They are the silent killers of everything made of wood and containing cellulose-rich material. But the question is, what do termites sound like, and how can you detect them to stop them from entering your space and costing you a lot in repairs?
Do Termites Really Make Noise?
You may be thinking that these pests are known as silent destroyers of properties. Then, how can they produce a sound? Your concern is legit, but the reality is that termites make very low or often hard-to-hear noises while chewing through the wood or gnawing.
They are less audible during the day, and the chances are high that they can pass through your eyes and you won’t notice them. Because the faint sound of termites needs to be detected using a stethoscope or other pest noise detection tools that professional pest controllers use to kill termites.
Here are the two most audible species of termites in Melbourne that are most likely attacking your place.
- Soldier termites make noise by banging their head against the timber walls.
- Worker termites chew through wood and tunnel within the structures of properties and create a very low sound.
What Do Termites Sound Like in Homes & Offices?
Termites, whether infesting a restaurant, food manufacturing plant, or businesses, sound the same as they don’t change their voices with the environment. After consulting with pest control specialists at Zap It, and inspection reports gathered after treating the termite problems of people living across Melbourne.
We have identified the following sounds as the most common among various termite species, including subterranean, damp wood, dry wood, alates or swarmer that can fly and establish new colonies during spring and summer.
1. Clicking and Tapping Sound
It is the most common and easiest to detect noise of termites because when the soldier termites sense danger. They tap or bang their heads against the mud tube walls that they have built to eat up the structural foundations of your home or business.
The clicking and tapping sound is actually the alerting sound that soldier termites produce to signal other termites. You can easily hear this specific noise while hearing the walls, as termites’ sounds in the walls can be heard with a stethoscope.
2. Head-Banging or Rattling Sound
Head banging or rattling sound is kinda similar to the clicking or tapping sound of termites. But it is more rhythmic and mostly spreads in quiet rooms where the humidity and warmth of the temperature are high. You can easily hear this sound by being in a room at a quieter time of the day.
Because termites produce a rattling sound as a defensive response to vibrations or light tapping on the infested wood, like your bed’s side table getting illuminated by the lamp, you need to have very fine-tuned ears to get exposed to the rattling sound of these pests.
3. Rustling and Scratching Noises
The rustling and scratching noises are often confused with the activity of rodents because they are known for scratching the insulation pipes, ceiling panels, and electrical wiring. But, termites can also create sounds of consistent rustling and scratching noises when worker termites move from the food source to the tunnel.
Their repeated fast movement in the tunnel creates soft rustling and scratching noises audible enough for anyone to take termite treatment methods and prevent them from further infestations.
4. Wings Fluttering/ Buzzing Sound
Winged termites ‘ noise at night is the most easily detectable pest activity around your place. Whenever you hear the fluttering of wings and buzzing sound during spring and summer, it can be because of alates or swarmers being on flight near your windowsills, lights like lamps or chandeliers, or air vents.
These species of termites take flight during the warmer temperatures to find a mating partner and build new colonies where there is an abundance of timber.
5. Faint Chewing / Gnawing
Can you think of the sound level a rodent may produce while chewing through the food, electrical wiring or insulation pipes in the ceiling? Surely, it would be easily detectable and alarming enough for you to instantly go for rodent control without wasting a minute.
But that’s not the case with the termites because their chewing of wooden items or gnawing is so faint that you can’t even hear it properly, even if you are just standing below the ceiling point under the termites’ attack.
6. Hollow Wood Sounds
The easiest way to detect termite activity is by tapping the timber items like doors, windows, kitchen racks, subfloors, garden chairs, or anything made of wood. If, upon tapping, you feel that the thing is making a hollow sound from a certain point or the paint peeling off from that item.
Then, this alarm is noisy enough for you to get alerted and go for termite control services and save your valuables from getting damaged to an irreversible level.
What is the Best Time to Listen to the Termites Sound?
The best time to hear the termites’ sound to confirm their presence is at night when the outside noises are dull, and you can even hear your breathing, because termites are not birds that are loud enough to get caught.
They are very quiet pests that can even eat up the whole structure of your building without ever once making you realise that something is inside the wood and eating it. You should also bring out your detective mode instantly after the rain because termites are more active due to increased moisture in the weather.
Another termite-friendly weather is spring and summer, when the humidity level is high and ideal for these pests to infest new places and increase their colonies.
What are the Ideal Places to Hear Termites Sound?
You can simply examine the following places in your home, and you will easily get to know what termites sound like.
- Subfloors: Melbourne’s older timber and weatherboard homes often have crawl spaces or subfloors that are rich in moisture due to direct contact with the soil. You are most likely to hear their noise at night.
- Inside Walls: Termites sound in walls are mostly found around the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry areas where the moisture level is high. They are mostly hidden inside the wall cavities made from timber and plasterboard.
- Ceiling Cracks: Cracks in the ceiling or roof voids are the ideal places for termites to infest and produce a tapping sound near ceiling joints or vents. Especially if your ceiling has leaks or timber trusses. Then, the termites may easily travel upward and produce faint noises.
- Timber Decks: Timber decks, sign posts, and wooden structures in your lawn are the favourite spots of termites to feast on the moisture-rich timber. You can easily hear their gnawing sound when inspecting these items.
How to Identify the Sound of Termites?
You can easily point out the presence of termites in your space by following the techniques mentioned below.
- By Using a Stethoscope: Place a medical-grade stethoscope against the wall at night time or above the infested wood and hear what termites sound like inside the walls.
- A Phone Mic: You can use your phone’s mic to record the voice of termites chewing through the wood. Place a phone in a quiet room and listen to clicking and tapping using headphones.
- By Tapping Wood: Tapping on the timber and receiving a hollow sound from a certain part of the door or floor is the telltale sign of termite activity inside that thing.
Conclusion
Now, it would be easy for you to tell what termites sound like because you are aware of possible noises, whenever you hear clicking, tapping, rattling, gnawing, or fluttering of wings after rain or during spring and summer. It’s a call for you to get alerted and go for termite control tips, and even a whole cleanup or treatment by the professional pest controllers.
