getting rid of spiders in the home
- Thread starter skaught
- Start date
Chemical warfare; if that don't work, burn 'em!
Chemical warfare works. My brother's girlfriend hates spiders. I would suggest it's to the point of being a phobia.
And I loathe the things. It has taken a bit of conscious effort to progress to the point that I don't go out of my way to kill them if I see them, but spiders just trip my species alarm somehow, so that it's sort of an us/them idea.
At any rate, I was over to mow my brother's lawn a couple weeks ago, and there's this grout bag that has long been permanently affixed to the garage floor; it's a useless garage in the sense of being a carpark, but it makes for good storage space. The previous owners installed a garage door in order to move stuff in and out, or maybe stow a motorcycle, but it's at the bottom of a sloped driveway, and someone apparently included this Quikrete® bag when trying to sandbag a midwinter leak.
Yeah, it's kid of funny.
But a house spider—genus Tegenaria—crawled up onto the top of the Quikrete® bag, and I decided that wasn't going to set well with me. So I checked with the girlfriend, who keeps a cat and a turtle in the house. Yes, they had spider spray, and no, the animals didn't generally use that part of the house.
Green light for genocide. And a genocide it was. I couldn't get to the Tegenaria directly, so I laid on all sides of it, flushing it up into open space. It was not happy when I hit it directly with the spray. I could very nearly hear it shouting, "Bastaaaaaaarrrrrd!" as it tumbled, writhing, back into the dark pit from whence it came.
So I hit the dark pit between a couple of boards. And that's when they all started coming out.
No, it wasn't an onslaught of spiders, but a couple Parasteatodae (common house spider), what looked like a Steatoda grossa (cobweb house spider), some Pholcidae (daddy long legs), and a couple of species I didn't recognize came up from the scrap woodwork. All of 'em dead. And their egg sacs. And my brother's girlfriend had to stop me from rubbing it in by setting the spray on fire.
It was a strangely cathartic battle, being so lopsided, futile, and aesthetic.
But she was delighted, and I ended up rather quite enjoying myself.
Chemical warfare is fun. I have no idea what all toxic hell I just unleashed, but it was fun.
Chemical warfare works. My brother's girlfriend hates spiders. I would suggest it's to the point of being a phobia.
And I loathe the things. It has taken a bit of conscious effort to progress to the point that I don't go out of my way to kill them if I see them, but spiders just trip my species alarm somehow, so that it's sort of an us/them idea.
At any rate, I was over to mow my brother's lawn a couple weeks ago, and there's this grout bag that has long been permanently affixed to the garage floor; it's a useless garage in the sense of being a carpark, but it makes for good storage space. The previous owners installed a garage door in order to move stuff in and out, or maybe stow a motorcycle, but it's at the bottom of a sloped driveway, and someone apparently included this Quikrete® bag when trying to sandbag a midwinter leak.
Yeah, it's kid of funny.
But a house spider—genus Tegenaria—crawled up onto the top of the Quikrete® bag, and I decided that wasn't going to set well with me. So I checked with the girlfriend, who keeps a cat and a turtle in the house. Yes, they had spider spray, and no, the animals didn't generally use that part of the house.
Green light for genocide. And a genocide it was. I couldn't get to the Tegenaria directly, so I laid on all sides of it, flushing it up into open space. It was not happy when I hit it directly with the spray. I could very nearly hear it shouting, "Bastaaaaaaarrrrrd!" as it tumbled, writhing, back into the dark pit from whence it came.
So I hit the dark pit between a couple of boards. And that's when they all started coming out.
No, it wasn't an onslaught of spiders, but a couple Parasteatodae (common house spider), what looked like a Steatoda grossa (cobweb house spider), some Pholcidae (daddy long legs), and a couple of species I didn't recognize came up from the scrap woodwork. All of 'em dead. And their egg sacs. And my brother's girlfriend had to stop me from rubbing it in by setting the spray on fire.
It was a strangely cathartic battle, being so lopsided, futile, and aesthetic.
But she was delighted, and I ended up rather quite enjoying myself.
Chemical warfare is fun. I have no idea what all toxic hell I just unleashed, but it was fun.
Bells
Staff member
Use hairspray until it freezes and cannot move toward you.. keep spraying it so that it literally can't move. Then chemical warfare or large boot.
Word of caution, if you suck up a live spider into the vacuum cleaner, it does not die! I found that out the hard way.:bawl:
I have an absolute phobia of spiders. So my husband deals with them. He does the capture and release, unless they are poisonous - he kills them then. He is more humane than I am in that regard. I see spider and if I am not running away in the opposite direction, I am looking for something that will allow me to kill it from range.
That thing on your wall there would be the only reason I'd keep a shotgun in the house (I joke of course.. well.. sort of.. the idea is tempting though).
Word of caution, if you suck up a live spider into the vacuum cleaner, it does not die! I found that out the hard way.:bawl:
I have an absolute phobia of spiders. So my husband deals with them. He does the capture and release, unless they are poisonous - he kills them then. He is more humane than I am in that regard. I see spider and if I am not running away in the opposite direction, I am looking for something that will allow me to kill it from range.
That thing on your wall there would be the only reason I'd keep a shotgun in the house (I joke of course.. well.. sort of.. the idea is tempting though).
I don't know.
The ones that big get dehydrated inside and eventually have to be taken outside. Since my brain cooties are active, my cleaning's gone all to hell, and our roaches are happy. The other night I found a spider and put it outside, its legs had a good three-inch spread.
That's a big hunting-spider, skaught. They roam. That kind is the kind that runs around wearing its' babies on its back for a while. Fairly common. I think it's pretty...also female.
The bigger they are, the more likely they are to be female-the males are smaller in spiders as a whole.
Try boric acid in the corners and crevices. Nontoxic.
I'd rather have the web spiders inside myself. We have this really neat little speckled variety that seems to do ok.
Ooh-if we get banana orb spiders in the yard again I will definitely take pictures. The body on those is about an inch across, the legs have a four inch spread...and last year we had a bunch.
The ones that big get dehydrated inside and eventually have to be taken outside. Since my brain cooties are active, my cleaning's gone all to hell, and our roaches are happy. The other night I found a spider and put it outside, its legs had a good three-inch spread.
That's a big hunting-spider, skaught. They roam. That kind is the kind that runs around wearing its' babies on its back for a while. Fairly common. I think it's pretty...also female.
The bigger they are, the more likely they are to be female-the males are smaller in spiders as a whole.
Try boric acid in the corners and crevices. Nontoxic.
I'd rather have the web spiders inside myself. We have this really neat little speckled variety that seems to do ok.
Ooh-if we get banana orb spiders in the yard again I will definitely take pictures. The body on those is about an inch across, the legs have a four inch spread...and last year we had a bunch.
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Get a cat.
Spiders eat insects.
Insects primarily live off food you drop.
Keep your house clean and your screens in good shape and you won't have many insects.
No insects equal no (or fewer) spiders.
Of course no one is perfect, in which case, other methods (as detailed) for dealing with the occasional spider are needed.
Arthur
Yeah I sprayed the shit out of the bastard with some ortho. Took the fucker about 5 minutes to die, then I was stuck with the carcass, which I don't even like touching with a ten foot pole. I wound up with a lake of bug juice on my table, and possibly sterility from the fumes. At any rate, I want all the fuckers dead
Here's the best thing to do:
Step 1 - Fetch lighter.
Step 2 - Fetch deodorant.
Step 3 - Use makeshift flamethrower to burn the suckers.
Step 4 - Call fire brigade and explain why your house is on fire.
Step 5 - Get distracted by their laughter and find your exit blocked.
Step 6 - Bitch about how you should have manned up whilst you await your darwin award in the post.
Alternatively, what Adoucette said.
Step 1 - Fetch lighter.
Step 2 - Fetch deodorant.
Step 3 - Use makeshift flamethrower to burn the suckers.
Step 4 - Call fire brigade and explain why your house is on fire.
Step 5 - Get distracted by their laughter and find your exit blocked.
Step 6 - Bitch about how you should have manned up whilst you await your darwin award in the post.
Alternatively, what Adoucette said.
Banana spiders are cool. I only seem to see garden spiders where I live now, and I've never seen either one inside...
But I think these are the coolest (they look like miniature crabs)
Skaught, your spider kind of reminds me of a Wolf spider. When I find them, they are always in or near a source of water, like the bathtub. They also do not come inside often, but they have the ability to jump about eight feet straight up if frightened - kind of scary the first time that happens...
Our Wolf spiders seem to be a bit darker than the one in the pic, and they can get about 2+ inches.
We also have both Black widows and Brown recluses - these can actually be dangerous.
From what I understand though, Australia has the really nasty species...
But Borax should repel them all. (as far as I know)
(Of course, you can always maintain a hermetically sealed and perfectly clean house like Arthur recommends.)
Holy shit Scott...that's a big ass spider...it would give me the willys too.
Or you can call Varda...she'll take care of the shit for you.
Or you can call Varda...she'll take care of the shit for you.
Boric Acid can be used as an insecticide and is more effective than Borax.
But alas, Boric Acid isn't that effective on spiders since Boric acid is a stomach poison and is pretty much only effective on insects that go through a grooming ritual (insects that do so will then ingest the boric acid), but spiders don't do that.
For wandering spiders like the one you pictured you will probably do better with "sticky traps" along the baseboards or wherever they enter your part of the house.
http://www.google.com/products/cata...+spiders&cid=16944835514352494716&os=sellers#
Ooops...
Wrong again, Arthur.
But you are right about Boric acid vs Borax - Boric acid, when you can find it, is more concentrated than Borax.
(Boric acid is a constituent of Borax)
Not really.
Next time you see a spider grooming itself let me know (Some species do it a bit in courtship, but that's fairly infrequent in spiders).
I used to keep spiders, and that's NOT a common behavior they exhibit.
It's impact on spiders is more physical and has to do with the abrasive nature of the boric acid on their exoskeleton, but they have to walk through it, but as you know, spiders can walk on the ceiling and so you can't really keep them out with boric acid.
Boric acid is not more concentrated than Borax, it's a different thing. Borax is sodium borate and Boric Acid is hydrogen borate, (you can make boric acid by reacting an acid Like HCl with Borax)
Arthur
Next time you see a spider grooming itself let me know (Some species do it a bit in courtship, but that's fairly infrequent in spiders).
I used to keep spiders, and that's NOT a common behavior they exhibit.
It's impact on spiders is more physical and has to do with the abrasive nature of the boric acid on their exoskeleton, but they have to walk through it, but as you know, spiders can walk on the ceiling and so you can't really keep them out with boric acid.
Boric acid is not more concentrated than Borax, it's a different thing. Borax is sodium borate and Boric Acid is hydrogen borate, (you can make boric acid by reacting an acid Like HCl with Borax)
Arthur
OK, here you go...
Tarantula Behaviors:
I can provide many more...
Oooohh... I see. I'm sorry, little friend, so did I. Check my post history, you will find that I owned and operated a quite large, full-service pet shop for a few years, plus... Well, I just like spiders, lizards, snakes and other crawly things. So any time you want to go a few rounds on one of these subjects, let me know.
Some spiders can walk on ceilings. But yes, your point is taken. However, I think the idea is to put Boric acid (or Borax
) in all the cracks and crevices, ceiling, walls and floor, per my original link.I'm sorry, you are right. What would be an appropriate word - more effective in this application? In any event, Borax has worked for me, although it is.. well, err... Different? What does your experience say?
Houston has giant flying roaches-last week I splatted one that was over three inches... after it flew past my head. From behind.
EWWWWW!
I hate those things. Right now they are coming in for water. We're in severe drought.
And they make my wife shriek hysterically, which I hate even worse-freaks me out for a good solid hour after she's been doing her patented a-cockroach-flew-at-my-head scream.
I would much rather have giant spiders than giant roaches...unfortunately, the only thing that likes to kill the evil kamikaze cockroaches is our youngest cat. She plays with them and pulls their legs off.
GOOD kitty!
I've got a mix of spiders and ants. I hear ants will eat bedbugs. My weed dealer got bedbugs and had to abandon his couch, so I'm afraid of that. The ants always make a trek across by bathroom rug in the morning, which is configured like a map of the United States. I picture them as little pioneers, making their way across vast plains, while I try to wake up sitting on the pot. I play god, crushing them with my heel. If I'm in the mood. Or I let them on over the mountains, to find gold in the hills of California. I cultivate spiders, but only outside. I think they are freaky to have inside. If they are large, I respect them and capture them in a plastic cage, where I draw their picture and then release them.
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superstring01
Moderator
Banana spiders are cool. I only seem to see garden spiders where I live now, and I've never seen either one inside...
I love this bug.
I have to admit, I love spiders. I'm an arachnophile.
Do I want them crawling on me? Nope. I even shrieked like a antebellum heiress about a year ago when one that was |<-------------------***THIS***------------------>| big (like five feet wide, with six inch fangs. . . or rather it sorta seemed, anyway) came crawling out from under my desk. Scared this piss out of me, it did!
Where was I?
Oh, yeah. In general, when not taken by surprise, I like spiders. I enjoy feeding the above pictured critters in late summer when the grass hoppers and crickets get big enough to catch and subsequently toss into the beautiful orbs that they weave. I rather enjoy the Hannibal-esque manner that they mobilize their dinner and wrap them for later consumption.
I, in fact, had an attractive tarantula in high school that feasted upon small mice, crickets and (her favorite), moths.
Bugs are fun.
~String