I’ve always wondered this. If it’s something tiny but deadly like a scorpion, are you supposed to just smash it yourself? Will they laugh at you for calling Animal Control? What about black widows?
When I lived in Phoenix, we smashed the black widows, no problem.
Professional exterminators will, of course, be happy to take your business. An example would the the Verminators.
I’ve found snakes in my basement before.
Well, actually, Mr. Athena found snakes in the basement before. He ran screaming up the stairs “There’s a SNAKE! In the STORAGE ROOM! What do we DO?!?”
I went downstairs, captured said snake in a tupperware container, and put it outside.
It came back a few days later. I did the same thing, only this time I took it farther from the house. Haven’t seen it since.
I don’t think it was deadly, but it was pretty small, and snakes do bite. And scorpions aren’t deadly either, but the OP mentions them, so I figger my snake counts.
Athena, you got bigger balls than your old man. Bless you.
I live in the Missouri Ozarks, we don’t see many scorpions but when I was 16 I found one in a friends kitchen, I caught it in a glass jar and we took it to biology class to show everyone. Got in good with the teacher for that.
I can’t say much about the other creatures you name, but black widows should be way down on your list of worries and concerns.
You are not prey, and you are not anything the spider can conceive of as an enemy. The spider has no interest in you. If it is aware of you at all, it just wants to stay out of the way of your big, dark shape and the disruptive air currents that you cause.
You don’t really need to move or relocate a blackwidow, as it will do you no harm and it eats things that you don’t want around your home. However, if you really feel the need, it’s the easiest thing in the world to gently trap the spider in a glass, trying your best not to make this a traumatic event for the animal, and to grant it freedom outside your home in a suitable environment where it can get on with its life.
Please, read Lynne Kelly’s superb book on spiders when it is published (soon). It will diminish many of your fears and concerns, and it may lead to fewer spiders being needlessly disturbed and evicted. Plus, it’s just a great, well-written and enjoyable book (I am lucky enough to have an advance copy).
A year or two ago, I discovered a small, brightly colored snake on the floor just in front of the altar of my church.
While I was wondering how to trap it, another adult went behind the altar, came back with a vessel of some type, trapped and released it to the brush outside.
Next day, the snake was back, same place.
Seriously, nothing that dangerous or deadly is likely to be found in your house. That being said, venomous snakes sometimes like to wander into homes in rural Australia and unwary folks have to confront a Joey Blake in their bathtub or curled around the roof-rafters.
When it comes to snakes, yes. I spent many happy childhood hours catching snakes in the grass.
House centipedes, on the other hand, bring us both to our knees.
If it’s something a homeowner can easily deal with unaided it would be somewhat irresponsible for Animal Control to get involved: “Hey Fred: another call from 32 Jefferson St. - go sweep those earthworms off her driveway like you did last week.”
Scorpions are reasonably easy to smash, say, with a broom. Often easier is to immobilize them in a towel or rag and move them outside.
I remember when I was about 10 or so we once had a feral / wild cat that climbed into our house through an open window and went absolutely nuts.
Have you even seen cartoons of the Tasmanian Devil?
Dad was away, mum was freakin’ and my older borther is a bit of a wimp about such things so it fell to me to catch it a wadded up towel - damn thing bit my thumb through the towel - it hurt like hell, drew blood and left a nice big hole. And then I still had to go back into the room and catch it.
When I was a kid a snake got into my friend’s house, and it became my pet. It was a beautiful California king snake. It bit me a few times when I did something that annoyed it, but it didn’t even break the skin–it just kind of tickled.
Well, of course. Australia’s snakes are a nasty bunch. In North America, there are few you need to worry about.
Scorpions and black widow spiders might endanger an infant’s life, but not likely an adult’s.
Um. Don’t all spiders, except a very few models, have poisonous bites?
I’m in a relatively bug safe part of the world, but even so, a woman I know had a good part of her thumb muscle destroyed by a brown/recluse spider.
And if you have an allergic reaction to…anything…or are immune-compromised…wouldn’t all kinds of things be threats?
Just because something is poisonous doesn’t mean it’s going hurt you. Hell, I pay good money to drink poison fairly often.
When I was visiting my sister in New Mexico a couple years ago we were startled by a rattlesnake while re-entering the house. The local authorities had no problem dispatching a special team to capture the critter and take it back out to the desert where it belongs.
I used to work at an explosives testing range which was mostly on the back side of a desert mountain. I’d see a few snakes a year, they were never aggressive. Some of the guys would kill them with a shovel, but there was one guy who used to capture and relocate. The only time one really freaked me out was when I opened an ordinance bunker one morning. The snake was coiled up on the concrete, in the sun, trying to warm up. I saw it, but thought it was a ceramic decoration. Scared the crap out of me when it turned its head and flicked its tongue!
So, to answer the OP, I’d probably just take care of it myself. Unless it was a bat. That wouldn’t be cool.
I know all these things aren’t that awful. It’s just…I don’t even like touching roaches. I usually just spray them and wait for someone else to dispose of the bodies. Can you spray a scorpion to death with insect juice?
Not so much in the U.S., but like snakes in Australia, they can be an issue elsewhere.
In the U.S. ( largely Arizona in this case ), this critter is only rarely deadly, but well worth respecting. I’ve known people that were nailed by them and the pain can be pretty intense.
Well, what a lot of people do is to call the police. Not the best answer, perhaps, but that’s who a lot of people think of first. In my town, the cops will respond to wildlife calls and will shoot skunks, snakes, rats and possums upon request or at least chase them outside. I can’t imagine anyone but the very elderly calling about a spider. Scorpions do live around here but they are rarely seen.
Jeez, doesn’t anybody own a shotgun?
Sure, it’s a bit hard on the flooring, but with snakeshot you can deal with just about anything insectoid.