In addition to, or instead of chemicals, be sure to seal up gaps and cracks with a latex-based foam gap filler. I prefer latex based because it's easier to work with and is not so hard when cured as polyurethane types. Dap makes a good one.
Then, pick up fold-up glue traps for spiders at the store and place them around the baseboards to pick up any that still sneak in. This will not only catch them, but it'll let you know where you might need to to a better job of filling tiny gaps and cracks.
Thanks, that is a good idea.
Never Mind Doug, he's against all things foreign to the environment, and many natural ones as well. Lots of doom and gloom.
Keep in mind that DDT is destructive to wildlife and even people in large enough concentrations, but the millions of people still alive in third world countries due to the use of DDT to eliminate mosquito-borne ailments such as malaria don't seem to mind.
Jeff
Table scraps? How *big* are your spiders...?
Jeff
Often, a good cleaning, eliminating insects in the house and stomping the few that get in is a very effective control. Micro encapsulated pesticides work to some extent as a perimiter treatment, most sprays you'll need to hit them directly to have any effect.
Jeff
I got the "table scraps" quote from the extension service web site which explained they wanted the same things we want. Food and shelter. In this case, table scraps meant that they feasted on minute particles of breadcrumbs and so forth. Now, in Arizona, table scraps meant they would carry away the table to get food.
Bob
An excellent, scientifically-based website on brown recluse spiders:
Regards, =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-= Mike Lacy, Ft Collins CO 80523 Clean out the 'junk' to email me.
You better double-check that statistic:
Where on earth do people get these ideas? :-) Sometimes, I think it's the human tendency to defend a purchase already made, even if it's a lousy decision. Sort of like my father, who claims that the window sticker on his Lincoln SUV (the BIG tank) is wrong, and that the truck actually gets upward of 30 miles per gallon.
I got this idea from the package that said "steam" and I thought steam was made from water. I'm not defending my purchase. I'll use it no matter what chemicals are in there and it doesn't bother me one way or the other.
attack others. Get a life.....
Bob
Sometimes, I think it's the
What measures?
Banty (has basement, curious..)
Not really. I'm eager for people to not believe everything they read on the chemical lables and the happy TV commercials.
What worked for me:
1) Eliminate dampness (dehumidifier, getting all stored items WELL off the floor and out of corners).2) Vacuuming corners & crevices thoroughly and regularly, especially the dark ones where webs/egg sacs aren't disturbed by human movements.
3) Eliminating cardboard, which harbors OTHER bugs that can be a food source for spiders.
I've been bitten twice. A quick trip to the urgent care center and I was fine. I had a client who was bitten at work on a Friday and didn't want to take time off to the nurse. By Monday the area was very dark/black. Now he has to use a cane to walk. Another individual I worked with lost a limb. The medicine for this isn't cheap - in 96 it was something like $108.00/bottle.
I live in an old house with no carpets. I keep everything clean including the attic and basement. Old shoes are disposed off as is old clothing (brown recluse love this stuff). Off season clothing is sealed up and put away for the winter and is washed in hot water before I wear it again. I was cleaning out the attic after we moved in and suffered one bite (tossing some old clothing that was left in the attic...the thing bit me above the glove line). I also walk around weekly and get rid of any spider webs.
Outside of the house I try to keep the foundation clear of anything. I have a few plants and some grass against the house. No stacks of wood nearby; there was a pile of wood against the house when I moved it I've since gotten rid of it all (got bitten by a brown recluse when moving the old firewood).
I like spiders, they're good to have around. They've been around a lot longer than I have and trying to eliminate them from this place would involve lots of chemicals. The only thing that I can do is not to provide them an easy place to live.
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