Patent ID: 7647723

Claim:
A camouflaged termite monitoring device, comprising: a housing configured as a landscape element and having a bottom surface adapted to engage an upper ground surface, the housing defining a cavity and an opening to the cavity through the bottom surface of the housing; a perforated bait cartridge configured to fit within the cavity; a bait material disposed within the bait cartridge and adapted to be attractive to termites; a mesh-like member operably engaged with the housing on the bottom surface so as to cover the opening to the cavity and to retain the bait cartridge in the cavity, the mesh-like member having a longitudinal axis which is substantially parallel with the bottom surface and defining openings therein, with the openings being sized to permit termites attracted by the bait material to pass therethrough into the cavity and the bait cartridge and to infiltrate the housing; and an inspection hatch disposed on an upper surface of the housing, generally opposite the bottom surface, the inspection hatch being operably engaged with the housing and configured to allow visual inspection of the bait cartridge within the cavity from outside the housing when the inspection hatch is in an open position, so as to determine whether termites have infiltrated the housing and consumed the bait material in the bait cartridge, without removing the housing from engagement with the upper ground surface, and the inspection hatch extending in a plane which is substantially parallel with the bottom surface when the inspection hatch is in a closed position.