Does anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of spiders? We’re having a MAJOR problem with Wolf Spiders here at my house. Inside. Big ones. So help me, I’m ready to move out!
And yes, I’ve already viewed the t.v. show that told us we are never 3 feet away from a spider, no matter where we are. Joy. JUST what I needed to hear.
Anyway, I’ve got this wicked, WICKED fear of spiders, ok? The fear is so intense that when I see one…anywhere, no matter where I am…I MUST go take a shower. If I see them at home, which is nothing less than a spider farm at this point, I usually end up taking a pill over the situation. Then showering. I’m constantly concious of looking for spiders. I refuse to sit on our couch in the spring, summer and fall, because a spider crawled across my arm a few years back, while I was sitting there. I now move a chair from the dining room table into the living room, just so I can sit and watch t.v.
We have the house sprayed once a month as it is, but the bug guy says that the spiders usually won’t die, because they don’t drag their bodies through the poison, as their bodies are lifted up when they walk on their legs.
I’ve tried spider spray, bug spray, exterminators, ultrasonic units…NOTHING gets rid of these things!! I’ve heard of using Pennyroyal oil, but it’s quite poisonous and we’ve got cats and dogs, so using that is out, unless I can do it somehow where the cats and dogs can’t get to it, in which case, it would probably not be effective.
The first thing I suggest you do is to go visit a hypnotherapist to help deal with your fear, i’m talking about an actual visit to a professional not some self-hypnosis tape you listen to in bed. They really can do wonders in a short space of time.
As for getting rid of them I can only suggest you try a different type of ultrasonic unit. We have them in nearly every room of the house (remember they aren’t effective through walls). Since we plugged them all in it took about 3-4 months whilst the “sightings” dropped off and now I haven’t seen one in the house for about 2 years. Granted we never suffered greatly from them in the first place but the units did work remarkably well, perhaps you could try using a different make/model to the units you have tried before and remember it takes time for them to have their full effect and they should be left plugged in 24/7.
Ok. Give me the name of the ultrasonic units you use. I’ve got to do SOMETHING here. It’s getting ridiculous.
I would LOVE to go and have myself hypnotized to get over this fear, but, alas…In my area, which is WAY out of step with the entire world (Indiana…in a very rural area…far, FAR from REAL civilization), I cannot find anyone that does that sort of therapy. I guess I’ll have to try another brand of ultrasonic units. I don’t know…
Thank you for your input, though. I appreciate it!
The units I use are from Weitech . They have quite a range to chose from, you may like to plump for one of the more powerful units for your larger rooms such as the living room and have smaller units in each of the other rooms of the house. I can’t remember how much they cost however.
On the subject of the hypnosis I would strongl urge you to give it a go, even if it involves a round-trip of 8 hours to go see someone reliable it would be a Sunday well spent to cure you of your fears, you seem to be suffering to an extent that travelling long distances shouldn’t be too high a price to pay to get it sorted. I’m from the UK and am not aware of any hypnotherapy associations in the U.S.A. you could contact but i’m sure there will be some sort of organisation that can point you to an approved therapist.
You have a problem with disgusting-looking, but otherwise clean and harmless spiders.
Cats enjoy chasing, catching, and eating spiders.
Many cat owners need pet-sitters to care for their pets while they are on vacation, etc.
My conclusion is: Assuming you can handle the responsibility of pet-sitting, by occasionally boarding cats you could take care of your spider problem and make a little money to boot.
Actually, come to think of it, babysitting might work here too, and it would pay more money.
I have 5 cats, NattoGuy . They like to WATCH the spiders…either that, or they’re afraid of them, also! lol lol The youngest of the cats is about 5 years old. Three of them are 8 years old and the remaining one is 12 years old. Maybe they like their food just a bit crunchier than what a spider nibblet can provide?
Mittu , I will check out the link for those ultrasonic units.
NattoGuy, spiders and cats can coexist quite well in the same house. The spiders (with sticky feet, webs, and a diet of flies) just stay mostly near the ceiling, while the cats (with non-sticky feet and being rather more subject to gravity all around) stay near the floor. Sure, the cats will eat any that come down, but the spiders don’t really need to come down at all.
They can get as big as two inches but they’re not poisonous and they reproduce as follows:
So it sounds like maybe a load of babies have just hatched in your house. They’ll probably wander off in their own time since they’re quite shy and don’t like hassle. They sound quite interesting (from a zoological point of view) the way they carry the babies around and don’t make webs.
And since they’re non-aggressive and non-poisonous, maybe if you leave them alone they’ll just go away?
Christ. I can barely deal with those tiny spiders of unknown species that just lurk in the corners on their webs. If I saw something like wolf spiders, out comes the shotgun and flamethrower. Good luck, nonacetone.
Yeeeeeah, Reply ! I’m about to the point of getting out the gun, honestly!
These spiders are showing themselves as soon as the sun goes down till the sun comes up. They are SO big. Jeez… Unreal. And they DO bite. They may not be posionous, but they still bite.
Yes. I’m going to have to find therapy for this one.
I’m in Indiana. I’m not the only one with them. Several people in this area are having problems with them. We have them EVERY spring, summer and fall. The only time we get a rest from them, is in the winter months. This is the first year that the others have had a bad problem with them, though. So, I guess maybe they just had some sort of big population explosion or something in my area. Gawd only knows.
I actually like spiders, but I have a lot of sympathy for someone who has a phobia, and I wouldn’t dream of trying to convince you to coexist with something that terrifies you. I just think that carpet-bombing, so to speak, is harmful to you and your pets as well as being useless against the spiders. You say that you don’t want to try pennyroyal oil because it might be bad for your pets. Just what is it that the bug guy is spraying around your house every month? I’ll bet it’s not exactly friendly to mammals either, and it’s obviously not doing the job you’d hoped. Maybe it’s time to fire the exterminator and try something else. This page has some tips for environmentally friendly pest control.
Spiders like to stay in places where there’s food. If I were you, I’d try a more effective way of controlling insects in my house. Do you have any unscreened windows (or torn screens)? Have you noticed ants in the kitchen or bathroom? The omnipresent foundation-and-baseboard-spray exterminators don’t do a thing to get rid of flies or gnats indoors, and they tend to be ineffective against ants as well. If you can limit their prey, the spiders will move on. As the page I linked to suggests, vaccuuming is a very effective and immediate way to get rid of indoor spiders. If you’re too freaked out by them to approach them at all, do you have a friend or family member you could call on for help? If you could vaccuum very thoroughly along the baseboards, under any area rugs, and down inside your upholstered furniture, you would probably eliminate a number of spiders along with (and I’m sorry to give you the image, but it’s a consideration) any egg cases that haven’t yet hatched. Afterwards, you should be sure that any porches and exterior windowsills are well-swept and that there’s no cover for spiders near entry points. Check to see if there are any cracks that should be caulked. If you can do those three things - eliminate all the prey species you can, physically remove all the spiders and eggs you can find, and seal entry points - you’ll be ahead of the game. The above site also has a recipe for a homemade spider spray you can use on any individuals you spot, so you have something close at hand do deal with any stragglers.
I know how this works, even though I’m not afraid of spiders in general, because we’ve had a problem with black widows, which are not a species I can tolerate in or very near the house. These methods have worked really well for us - especially sealing cracks and weatherstripping doors and windows and finding and eliminating egg cases. Good luck!
I may suggest you get out a vaccume cleaner with a hose attachment and go around the house in the evening when they come out and suck up as many as you can see/find. Then remove the bag and burn it outside. The burning part will prove to be quite satisfying. Do this every day or couple till you feel better.
There are wolf spiders in Indiana? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! :eek:
Oh gosh. I remember those things from Kansas. And no, they do --not-- run away when the light comes on. They run TOWARDS you. They slip in and out between the carpet and the baseboard, and actually make little furrows in the carpet over time.
Ohhh holy cow, please tell me you live in southern Indiana, please.
