Big Black Ants Eating Insulation?

[Terri Pour-Rastegar]

A tenant called me last night stating that she's been finding little piles of fiberglass insulation here and there the past week or so. She was beginning to fear she has a mouse problem. Then she said she saw quite a number of ants in the middle of her kitchen the other day, each one carrying a tuft of insulation in its mouth.

This is weird, and certainly a first for me. I want to take care of this right away, of course. Anybody else see this kind of situation? How did you handle it?

I don't want to assume she has only an ant problem. I don't know what ants would want with her insulation. I can understand mice using it for bedding or something. So I don't want to rule out either problem.