Spider help

[DaveNJ74]

I catch maybe 2-3 spiders in my house (condo) every day or so. I have some trees in the back of my house along with a small wooded area separating my unit and another development.
At night if I look out the sliding doors from the kitchen to the patio that is on ground level, I can see nice big fat spiders spinning webs on my chairs and table. It seems this week we have had more spiders due to the hurricane. I would assume the rain and wind has pushed them more towards the house.
I was thinking of calling an exterminator this week but wanted to check here first. Any advice? Thanks

[RABIDMONKEY]

I have a house on 2.5 acres half woods , I too had a bad spider problem. I was getting these big smart spiders , by smart I mean Id be 20-30 away inside and the spider (most over the size of a quarter to half dollar size ) would start doing the" I see you dance" something like a pro baseball player geting ready to steal a base but since larger spider was doing it much creepier . Started using the ortho max home defense apply per directions seem to keep them out for a year , so you will have to do this yearly but it does work and its much cheaper than a profesional . I found mine a the home depot near me . here is link http://www.homedepot.com/buy/outdoors/garden-center/ortho/1-gal-home-defense-max-perimeter-indoor-insect-killer-71347.html

[Nobody]

Personally, I always leave the big orb weavers alone. They are harmless & pretty cool guys to watch. Black widows (we have bunches of them here) & Brown Recluses are another matter altogether! But hey, if you don't like spiders, then do what you must.

[DaveNJ74]

I have a house on 2.5 acres half woods , I too had a bad spider problem. I was getting these big smart spiders , by smart I mean Id be 20-30 away inside and the spider (most over the size of a quarter to half dollar size ) would start doing the" I see you dance" something like a pro baseball player geting ready to steal a base but since larger spider was doing it much creepier . Started using the ortho max home defense apply per directions seem to keep them out for a year , so you will have to do this yearly but it does work and its much cheaper than a profesional . I found mine a the home depot near me . here is link http://www.homedepot.com/buy/outdoors/garden-center/ortho/1-gal-home-defense-max-perimeter-indoor-insect-killer-71347.html

Thanks. I think I saw one of my spiders do that. It was outside on its web doing nothing but sitting there, it must have seen me looking out at it and it started shaking the web and it looked like it was vibrating. That was creepy.

[mongoose]

I catch maybe 2-3 spiders in my house (condo) every day or so. I have some trees in the back of my house along with a small wooded area separating my unit and another development.
At night if I look out the sliding doors from the kitchen to the patio that is on ground level, I can see nice big fat spiders spinning webs on my chairs and table. It seems this week we have had more spiders due to the hurricane. I would assume the rain and wind has pushed them more towards the house.
I was thinking of calling an exterminator this week but wanted to check here first. Any advice? Thanks

The spider is a predator and it's natural sense of it's enviornment pulled the trigger on expansion because of availble food. If I were you I would be more interested in what the spider is keeping out of your condo.

[DaveNJ74]

The spider is a predator and it's natural sense of it's enviornment pulled the trigger on expansion because of availble food. If I were you I would be more interested in what the spider is keeping out of your condo.

Mosquitos and moths are mostly what I see outside and inside the home.

[FonGu]

Self treat with the chemical listed further up in the tread. I've used it, and it works. Another choice - if you can identify what type of spider, you might have success in attracting something that will eat it, then no chemicals. Many birds will eat spiders and those are much more pleasent to look at!

[DaveNJ74]

Self treat with the chemical listed further up in the tread. I've used it, and it works. Another choice - if you can identify what type of spider, you might have success in attracting something that will eat it, then no chemicals. Many birds will eat spiders and those are much more pleasent to look at!

Thanks, we do have birds in the back but we also have a shopping mall a few blocks away that has a huge parking lot where a few people put food out for the birds. Im sure without them doing that, there would be more birds hunting around for insects.

[cat4025]

Man I hate spiders. We had a big problem with spiders and centipedes when I lived in Hawaii. I sprayed the Ortho Home Defense around the entire outside perimeter of my house and around every opening, that stopped them from getting in the house. That stuff will stop anything! I sprayed a shot on a fire ant hill once and it killed them all, they're pretty persistent little suckers too. I've kept a gallon jug of the stuff ever since.

[DaveNJ74]

Man I hate spiders. We had a big problem with spiders and centipedes when I lived in Hawaii. I sprayed the Ortho Home Defense around the entire outside perimeter of my house and around every opening, that stopped them from getting in the house. That stuff will stop anything! I sprayed a shot on a fire ant hill once and it killed them all, they're pretty persistent little suckers too. I've kept a gallon jug of the stuff ever since.

Thanks for all the help.

[bakerbarber]

Monkey Balls

It's about that time of year..


Today, the fruit is sometimes used to deter spiders, cockroaches, boxelder bugs, crickets, fleas, and other arthropods. An article posted by the Burke Museum in Washington State claims that this usage, in the case of spiders, has no evidence to support it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maclura_pomifera

[johnnyxxl]

I put a little dusting of seven dust around my home and it keeps most creepy crawlies out of the home and is super cheap a bag/can lasts years

[luvmysuper]

You know, my initial gut reaction is;


189509

But my brain knows that those spiders are eating things that you don't want in and around your house.

Put up a line of defense with the Home Defense, kind of like the line in the sand. Where that line is, is your call - the house itself or the patio furniture, but otherwise, leave them be.

They are creepy, but they do a whole lot more good than they do harm.

Poisonous "house" spiders are a different thing entirely (such as Black Widows etc) and should be shown no mercy.

[Legion]

You know, my initial gut reaction is;



But my brain knows that those spiders are eating things that you don't want in and around your house.

Put up a line of defense with the Home Defense, kind of like the line in the sand. Where that line is, is your call - the house itself or the patio furniture, but otherwise, leave them be.

They are creepy, but they do a whole lot more good than they do harm.

Poisonous "house" spiders are a different thing entirely (such as Black Widows etc) and should be shown no mercy.

This.

[gaseousclay]

I was thinking of calling an exterminator this week but wanted to check here first. Any advice? Thanks

my advice: if you hate spiders then don't watch The Mist :laugh:

[JayM]

Buy a Dashund....

My little guy kills ever bug he sees...
He is a mighty hunter.. goes by the name of Sgt. Schlink.

Seriously - he kills everything - I have not seen a bug in my house since I brought him home.
He even kills gecos, and if a wasp is dumb enough to get close he kills them as well.

Great little early warning system for intruders as well.
So ... get a Dashund, and you will be entertained watching him case down a spider and bite it.

[TheVez2]

They're really harmless, I just let them in.

http://gallery.tarantulas.us/gallery/d/73484-2/100_1213.jpg

[closer]

Just saw this thread, will try out the OrthoMax home defense mentioned above. I've got many spiders, they seem to get in the house with even the slightest opening of doors/windows. For the last couple of years I've also seen jumping spiders. They get into our basement via the garage. These things are very quick, and its pain to run after them and swat them with a shoe.

Any thoughts about the safety of the OrthoMax chemical?

[Bobbers]

Here is something you might want to think about. If you are seeing a lot of spiders it is probable because the spiders have found a place that has a good source of food. In other words the spiders might not be the real problem. If you get ride of what the spiders are eating they will go away.

[BrianL]

Found this guy on my porch last night, the size 10(men's US) flip flop was only used to show size. The spider remains unharmed.

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Dave:
For the Mrs. and I...any spiders of any size in the house 'freak-us-out' and 'got to go'...yeech!! :a38:

If home remedies don't work...then it's time for a exterminator.

http://www.cool-smileys.com/images/spidersmiley2.gif

[njpaddy]

You can't even say the word "spider" around my oldest daughter, and she's 40. And to top it off she blames me for "making" her watch The Incredible Shrinking Man on tv when she was a kid. We had a lot of spiders outside our house when we lived in Florida in the mid-70's, but I had a bags of Chlordane that put up a barrier that nothing got through. With a small child, the only spiders that bothered me were the Black Widows.

I had an exterminator this summer for carpenter ants. He said (as one would expect) that the Home Defense spray I was using doesn't do anything more than irritate bugs. He said you're better off using an "instant kill" spray.

[DaveNJ74]

Found this guy on my porch last night, the size 10(men's US) flip flop was only used to show size. The spider remains unharmed.

OMG, if we saw that, our house would be on the market the next day. Well, here is an update. I used the home defense spray that was recommended. I used it in the front of the condo and the back. The number of spiders inside the house went down drastically even when we had a week of rain not too long ago. I remember when it rained, the spiders would come in the house to stay dry etc.
So I was sweeping up some leaves in front of the condo unit and I noticed a spider that was in between my storm door and the main door. Its crawled right under the front door which was about a little less than a centimeter of play under it. This is where they are coming from all along.