Serious problem with spiders

nikki2804

I absolutely loathe the little !!!!!!s but I have no idea why.

In my old house I moved a bag because my cat was glaring at it (thought it would be a little bug) and was confronted with a spider about the size of my fist. I was 8 months pregnant with spd but I had never moved so fast in my life. Screamed blue murder aswell.

I did also go to the doctors with what I thought were infected midgie bites, he informed me that they were house spider bites :eek: Non poisonous obviously but apparently some people are allergic to their saliva.

Raid worked wonders in the old house. Thankfully in this house I haven't encountered any yet (I know they'll be somewhere but I can't see them so it's all good

pkmuldoon

Spiders need a source of food. So large amounts of spiders normally means large amounts of available food sources. This advice pertains to the South Eastern USA where I lived for many years. Some of it might apply here.

- Do you have standing water on the property? An unlevel patio that always holds a puddle? An old outside toilet, or even upside down dustbin lids? Get rid of all of them.

- Do you have hedges that create moist shaded environments? If so treat them with insecticide

- Do you have any apertures into the house? Like a hole where an old tap used to be? Plug them.

You won't get rid of the spiders until you find out what their food source is. Like I mentioned a large population of spiders has to have a large food source. Do any of your neighbours store rubbish outside? Are your rubbish bags sealed when placed outside waiting for the bin men?

In the states we had these mosquito screens for windows that allowed fresh air in, but kept out bugs. Not sure if sell them here.

Finally you may have to pay for a pest control specialist to investigate.

Take consolation that you don't have black widows or brown recluse spiders here. Nasty both of them!

Lobsta

I have a totally irrational fear of spiders, I actually feel sick when I see a big one. My fear has developed from people findiñg my slight fear funny and throwing spders at me or at work they used to put them under my keyboard. I will be doing the friendly spider program that london zoo put on each year but as yet I've never managed to get a space and it is quite expensive.
My tricks to reduce spider population in my house are:
Citonella oil (from holland and barrett) rubbed over every door frame and window to stop them coming in when they're open.
or 'cage and hutch spray' from the pet shop, stops them coming in and also will kill them if they do manage to get in. You can spray it in areas where they tend to congregate and it will keep them away for several weeks.
they also dont like peppermint, might smell nicer than citonella but I havent tested it out.
I have an ultra sonic spider scarer thing, my husband doesn't believe it works but usually when a big beast is found in the house it seems to coincide with my hubby having unplugged the scarer.
I have a long reach spider catcher so they can be deposited oùtside at arms length.
every cobweb is removed at earliest opportunity.
when all else fails I tend to throw things at them!
hth

50Twuncle

I used to live in an RAF camp and was regularly woken up by saucer sized spiders dropping off the ceiling on to my chest - they woke me up through the bedsheets !!


They also used to "chatter" - seriously - spiders are not silent !!

50Twuncle

pkmuldoon wrote: »

Spiders need a source of food. So large amounts of spiders normally means large amounts of available food sources. This advice pertains to the South Eastern USA where I lived for many years. Some of it might apply here.

- Do you have standing water on the property? An unlevel patio that always holds a puddle? An old outside toilet, or even upside down dustbin lids? Get rid of all of them.

- Do you have hedges that create moist shaded environments? If so treat them with insecticide

- Do you have any apertures into the house? Like a hole where an old tap used to be? Plug them.

You won't get rid of the spiders until you find out what their food source is. Like I mentioned a large population of spiders has to have a large food source. Do any of your neighbours store rubbish outside? Are your rubbish bags sealed when placed outside waiting for the bin men?

In the states we had these mosquito screens for windows that allowed fresh air in, but kept out bugs. Not sure if sell them here.

Finally you may have to pay for a pest control specialist to investigate.

Take consolation that you don't have black widows or brown recluse spiders here. Nasty both of them!

Spiders do not eat a load of food - little comfort for those having to live alongside our 8 legged friends - a spider can survive several months without eating - they do not get moisture from their food, so need a source of water - but can get by with a single drop of water in a week !!
They do not need large "pools of water" and the idea of spiders scavenging for food in dustbins is not correct ..
To start with - it takes three spiders to lift the bin lids off !
Camel spiders are the worst - but these are rarely found outside of the Middle East - they are so called, not because they are the size of camels or because they eat camels - but because they make the same noise as camels !!
Finally
Is said that in an average lifetime, a person will eat 8 spiders !!

pkmuldoon

50Twuncle wrote: »

Spiders do not eat a load of food - little comfort for those having to live alongside our 8 legged friends - a spider can survive several months without eating - they do not get moisture from their food, so need a source of water - but can get by with a single drop of water in a week !!
They do not need large "pools of water" and the idea of spiders scavenging for food in dustbins is not correct ..
To start with - it takes three spiders to lift the bin lids off !
Camel spiders are the worst - but these are rarely found outside of the Middle East - they are so called, not because they are the size of camels or because they eat camels - but because they make the same noise as camels !!
Finally
Is said that in an average lifetime, a person will eat 8 spiders !!

The water is not for them, but for insects laying eggs. We don't really have large mosquito populations in this country but there are plenty of other common insect species that need water or a damp environment to propagate. Any source of standing water quickly becomes stagnant and a breeding ground for insects. Gnats. Mosquitos. Flies. Dragonflies. All common insects that can use standing stagnant water as a place to lay eggs.

OP has not replied, so for all we know his/her garden is as dry as the sahara. Just passing along advice to try and control the issue.

Yeah some spiders can go a long time without food. I am not an arachnologist by any stretch but spiders don't group together in an area for company and a chat. They are predators and most types do not display any social affinity to each other.

Something is drawing them to that area, and that is going to be a food source. Until you get rid of the source, it's going to be spider city. Especially given how many spiderlings a single spider can produce from a single brood.

isotonic_uk

I brought one of these from primose.co.uk and works a treat. As soon as you see a spider. Turn this on, it will suck it into its vacuuum and the spider wont be able to go anywhere. Put the lid on it. You can even play around with the spider if you like once caught and its out of harms way. Lol

I then or my wife just puts the spider in the bin for it to never return.....

http://www.primrose.co.uk/spider-catcher-vacuum-p-6467.html?source=googleads&gclid=CJH6yvLl-b4CFabItAodvyYAxw

Mojisola

Lobsta wrote: »

I have a totally irrational fear of spiders, I actually feel sick when I see a big one. My fear has developed from people findiñg my slight fear funny and throwing spders at me or at work they used to put them under my keyboard. I will be doing the friendly spider program that london zoo put on each year but as yet I've never managed to get a space and it is quite expensive.

This was mentioned on Click - and it's free -
http://apps.nhs.uk/app/phobia-free/

Elsewhere

I also like spiders and wouldn't dream of killing one. However they can be a nuisance in the house as they occasionally set off our burglar alarm. Using horse chestnuts (conkers) to deter them (as a previous poster mentioned) was suggested to us - we thought it was an old wives' tale until we tried it and it works perfectly! They need to be replaced with fresh ones every autumn to keep their efficacy.

I noted that when we had our last burglar alarm service the engineer sprayed all the PIRs with a substance containing horse chestnut too. This must be a recent product - he'd never used it before.

So, to the OP, maybe plant a couple of conker trees in your garden as well?

camNolliesMUMMY

Don't know if it's been mentioned but.....CONKERS!!!
They don't like them.
Realised this when we bought the new house backing onto farmers field, previous owners put CONKERS everywhere. Asked the neighbour and she confirmed she does the same and hasn't had a spider in 4 years.