Spider Problem

[Guest]

I've got a major brown recluse problem.

The bug man sprayed last week but there were so many spiders that it just pushed them into a garage closet.

Probably vacuumed up 25-30 big brown recluses resting on a sheet of plywood that was leaning on the garage wall.

I found out that wasp spray doesn't kill spiders, but really makes them mad. (not a good idea)

Tonight, I killed 2 more big ones on the opposite end of the garage.

Then deployed 15 sticky traps.

My next option is call the bug man back out & have him spray again.

Then get rid of any & all paper, cardboard boxes, firewood near the house, overhanging limbs & bushes.

Anything that can house spiders or insects has to go.

Most of them are the size of a dime, quarter & half dollar. The big ones really freak me out for some reason.

I'm not afraid of them although I respect them, its my toddler that I'm worried about.

Some of the stout spider insecticides cant be sprayed inside the house, which is the problem.

[fishinwrench]

Arson comes to mind.

I swear I'd rather have a house full of rattlesnakes...

The old timers swear by hedge apples, and it seemed to work in a camper we had. Got any nearby? It's worth a try.

[Guest]

Arson comes to mind.

I swear I'd rather have a house full of rattlesnakes...

The old timers swear by hedge apples, and it seemed to work in a camper we had. Got any nearby? It's worth a try.

the horse apples need to be picked up right now

[jdmidwest]

I think I would bail out. Skunks, squatters, and now poison spiders.

I thought you were putting the place up for sale? Find you a nice home in the city where you don't have to worry about critters.

[Guest]

I think I would bail out. Skunks, squatters, and now poison spiders.

I thought you were putting the place up for sale? Find you a nice home in the city where you don't have to worry about critters.

this is the new rental house, not our old house

[snagged in outlet 3]

This house is near me.

Pete

Talk about a perfect house for Halloween.

The 2,400-sq.-ft. atrium ranch home house at 84 Gillette Field Close in Weldon Spring, Missouri, was built in 1988 and boasts great views of the third and fourth holes at the Whitmoor Country Club.

Except it's been abandoned for two years because it's filled with spiders.

How many spiders? Oh, somewhere in the neighborhood of 4,500 to 6,000 spiders.

Interested in buying it?

Brian and Susan Trost purchased the home in the summer of 2007 for $450,000. The spider problem started shortly afterward, with Susan noticing webs – and then the spiders themselves – every day.

The Trosts called in a pest control company to deal with the spiders – since identified as brown recluses – and had the home's drywall removed so the exterminators could spray behind it. They then had another company remove insulation from the attic and put down a pesticide powder.

In 2008, the Trosts filed a claim with State Farm Insurance and took the home's previous owner to court.

During the trial, University of Kansas biology professor Jamel Sandidge referred to the home's spider problem as "immense," estimating the spider population to be 4,500 to 6,000, an assessment all the more worrisome because it was performed during the winter, when the spiders are least active, Sandidge said.

Ongoing lawsuits against State Farm and the previous owners, the Gaults, are still pending. (Among other things, State Farm does not consider the spider infestation "physical damage.")

The Trosts moved out and the home went into foreclosure: McCarthy Pest Control had tented the structure as of Oct. 10 and pumped 200 pounds of sulfuryl fluoride gas into it at 67 degrees below zero.

Though the brown recluse does have a venomous bite, "A lot of the fear [of the spider] is overdone," Matt Ormsby of the Missouri Department of Conversation tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"Sure, you need to respect the spider, but a brown recluse doesn't have the bite pressure to make it through our skin, and they are not aggressive. ... The best way to prevent getting bitten is to shake out your stuff [that has been stored for a long time] and just frequent cleaning of the house."

[Quillback]

Yikes!

[Al Agnew]

A lot of people who live in the country or have old houses would probably be very surprised at how many brown recluses they have in their houses. I know we had a lot of them in an old farmhouse we used to own, and in our 22 year old house we live in now there are also quite a few. Turn on a light just about anywhere in the house in the middle of the night and we'll see one or two in whichever room the light's on. They are very nocturnal and hide during the day. In the old house, you could guarantee that anytime you lifted a picture off the wall there would be one on the back of it.

You're most likely to get bitten if you put on an article of clothing that has one hiding in it. The pressure of the clothing against your skin seems to give the recluse enough "backing" to be able to get its fangs into your skin. My wife was bitten by one on her lower abdomen when she put on a pair of undies. Fortunately, although it was very painful and swollen for several days it did no lasting damage. It's scary to see the huge sores and loss of tissue that some bites cause.

It always pays to be watchful when you are moving things around in sheds, garages, and parts of the house that don't get cleaned often. But for the most part they aren't too likely to bite you even if you run afoul of one.

And by the way, if an exterminator tells you he can get rid of them, don't believe it. They are resistant to most pesticides. The exterminator is more useful in getting rid of most of the insects in the house that they prey upon.

[Wayne SW/MO]

We just went through a problem wth them coming into the laundry room. I think they were following ants in through the dryer vent. I sprayed with a bug killer in there and outside around the vent. We then set up traps. I haven't seen any lately.

I have a lt of them in my shop, but unfortunately a lot of places for them to hide. They can get in to things you think they can't. I will eventually probably have to bomb them.

Most professionals advise spraying to kill them and their food supply, vacumn, and the sticky traps. The spraying should include the outside foundation to kill any transients like ants. They seem to take command, I had a lot of wolf spiders and very few fiddlebacks, now all I have is the fiddlebacks in the shop.

[jdmidwest]

The reason it is so hard to get rid of them is it takes a direct contact dose of poison to kill them. Unlike other insects that can be killed with residual sprays, spiders need a direct shot. And because they are nocturnal and shy, they don't get hit with a shot of spray. I think they have to fog to be effective.

Good luck.