I knocked down some termite shelter tubes. They were under my house. Where have the termites gone? Will they come back?

Sorry, but you’ve probably done the wrong thing. These tubes are produced by subterranean termites and provide cover for them to traverse over things they don’t want to eat in order to reach the things they do want to eat. If upset by the disturbance, the termites can easily switch to another path into the house–often one that you can’t find. Trouble is, you termite inspector may not be able to find it either. It is almost always better not to disturb them until you have a proper inspection done and decided on the right response strategy. Instead of slowing them down, you have likely slowed yourself and the likely result is that it may end up costing you a bit more to be rid of them.  Sometimes the termites will quickly repair a damaged tube but some species will stay away for a long time and a few may not ever come back.

One thing that’s sure is that breaking their tubes is not a safe way to control the colony. On the other hand, if your house sits up on stilts or stumps, then having a few trained chickens underneath to regularly break the tubes may actually give good control (used in some Pacific islands) but only if the termites have no alternative concealed entry paths.

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