Bugs and Spiders in the Garage

[PumpkinCrusher]

Hey all,

How do you folks keep them at bay? I live some what in the country and my finished pole barn is under constant attack from spiders and various insects. None of the damaging type like termites or black ants.

I see a lot of garages and finished pole barns on here that look amazing. I'm not looking for museum clean but something that is better then I currently have. It's hard to keep the floors and walls and the bottom of cabinets looking clean because of spider webs. Any tips or does it just require constant vacuuming?

Thanks in advance,

John

 

[Ruiner]

I use an Ortho product the kills spiders and other bugs, comes in a white jug with a sprayer on a coil hose...it's safe for indoor use too, and seems to work well for me...up here in MN we don't have too many creepy crawlies...

 

[Bull]

I have decided to let the spiders be, unless they are particularly creepy looking or in an area where we'd be too close for comfort (under the car I am working on, for example.) After all, they kill the ants, skeeters, and other insects that I don't want in there. One near the front garage door caught another, HUGE spider in its web. I was happy she had gotten it instead of me finding it.

I have been curious to try those electronic devices that emit noises that supposedly keep bugs away. I have seen some with good reviews on Amazon, but other people say they are a hoax.

 

[Romanova]

I use an Ortho product the kills spiders and other bugs, comes in a white jug with a sprayer on a coil hose...it's safe for indoor use too, and seems to work well for me...up here in MN we don't have too many creepy crawlies...

Seems to kill everything... I use it to keep spiders and roaches out of my garage. Costco has a HUGE jug for cheap.

 

[knudsen]

I work for an insecticide regulatory agency. Just be sure to read the label and follow directions carefully. Be especially careful with pets and children. It is nerve agent. That being said, I have no qualms with dumping a huge dose of the commercial stuff I get at work on the little bastards. I have a big scar on my leg from when I first entered my shed this spring and was attacked by spiders. Within a week, 5 bites went away and one turned to a full blown MRCA infection and I was laid up for a week and a half. In a strange demented way, it was nice to get to lay around with no responsibilities, an endless supply of vicodine, and rest. Luckily, one it was determined to be MRCA and I was placed on an effective antibiotic, the infection began to loose out. Often these things end up with in-hospital IV antibiotics. My shed is now a hazmat zone and nothing survives inside it. I returned with the WMA of insecticides.

 

[crashbumper]

A friend of mine used to work for a local pet store. He bought small geckos and just let them loose around the outside of the house and in the garage. Worked well and the kids loved them too.

 

[havi]

I would think just having tight seals on all doors and windows would be most helpful. I have barn-doors with big gaps around them, so I deal with a lot of flies, hornets, bees, wasps, spiders, mice etc...

 

[Bull]

What is "MRCA"?

I've seen some incredibly gross pics on the internet of a Brown Recluse bit that started rotting a guy's hand off. If those were around here, I'd drop a poison nuke inside the garage.

Within a week, 5 bites went away and one turned to a full blown MRCA infection and I was laid up for a week and a half.

 

[PumpkinCrusher]

Thanks guys. Ortho it is.

 

[btmatt]

Moth balls around the outside perimeter of my pole barn seemed to help also.

 

[knudsen]

What is "MRCA"?

I've seen some incredibly gross pics on the internet of a Brown Recluse bit that started rotting a guy's hand off. If those were around here, I'd drop a poison nuke inside the garage.

MRCA is like a staff infection, but it's antibiotic resistant. There are two types, the worst one is usually caught in a hospital or clinic. The weaker version comes from anywhere. My wife is a nurse, so she might have brought it home and it got in the wound left by the spider. We have Brown Recluse here, but I don't think that's what got me since the other wounds just healed up. Or maybe it was one spider on an eating binge and he used all his venom on the first bite.

 

[Bull]

Well, whatever spiders you have there sound aggressive...I know the Recluse will run towards a human to attack. Most of the spiders around here run AWAY from you if you enter their space. I like that arrangement a whole lot better.

 

[malibu101]

It's actually shortened to MRSA. Not MRCA.
I had MRSA. not good. In case interested- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methicillin-resistant_Staphylococcus_aureus

 

[ddawg16]

Walking out into our backyard this morning was like walking onto the set of Arachnaphobia.......we leave them alone....they eat the bad bugs.....for the most part I think we have reached an agreement....if they stay out of the garage, they can have the vegi garden.....a few have not listened and are now residing in my shop vac.

I have too many kids around to want to use chemicals...

 

[GN4WHLN]

The lizzards here seem to keep the spiders and other bugs in check. I find the occasional black widow in the garage or under the BBQ; they get a quick shot of Raid to send them on their way. The dog sleeps on the garage floor a lot when it is hot so I don't want anything biting her.

 

[wrhenker]

My bug problem is not only with spiders, but with hundreds of erwigs! They hide behind the insulation. Seems they just keep comming and that Ortho stuff works like spraying water. I used 2 gallons, one on the inside, one on the outer perimeter as stated in the instructions. Next step is a fogger, then I go professional exterminator!

 

[d110pickup]

I used to kill every spider I saw in the shop . . . . until I started noticing the scorpions hung in the webs. I hate the scorpions worse than the spiders.
Now I only kill the poisonous spiders and every scorpion I see.
Mike

 

[litljay]

Pick up some Tempo Ultra WP from a farm store if you can get it.

Here's the list of bugs controlled:

Pests Controlled by Tempo:

Turf Pests
Ornamental Pests
Indoor Premises Pests
Flying Pests
Pantry & Stored Product Pests
Food Processing Pests
Wood Infesting Pests
Outdoor/Perimeter Pests
Turf Pests

Ants
Armyworms
Bluegrass billbug (adult)
Chiggers
Chinch bugs
Crickets
Cutworms
Earwigs
Fire ants***
Fleas
Grasshoppers
Hyperodes weevil (adult)
Japanese beetles (adult)
Mole crickets
Scorpions
Sod webworms
Ticks (including deer ticks)
Ornamental Pests

Ants*
Aphids
Armyworms
Azalea caterpillars
Bagworms
Boxelder bugs
Bristly roseslugs
Budworms
California oakworms
Cankerworms
Casebearers
Clovermites
Cockroaches**
Crickets*
Cutworms
Elm leaf beetles
Elm spanworms
Flea beetles
Flies*
Fungus gnats
Grasshoppers
Gypsy moth larvae
Japanese beetles (adult)
June beetles (adult)
Lace bugs
Leaf skeletonizers
Leaf-feeding caterpillars
Leafhoppers
Leafrollers
Mealybugs
Midges*
Mosquitoes*
Oleander moth larvae
Orchid weevil
Pear psylla
Peppertree psyllid
Pillbugs
Pine shoot moths
Pine tip moths
Plant bugs
Redhump caterpillars
Sawfly larvae
Scale insects (crawler stages)
Sowbugs
Spiders*
Spittlebugs
Striped beetles
Striped oakworms
Tent caterpillars
Thrips
Ticks (including deer ticks)
Tussockmoth larvae
Wasps*
Webworms
Whiteflies
Yellownecked caterpillars
Indoor Premises Pests

Crawling Pests
Ants (except Pharaoh)
Bedbugs
Carpet beetles
Centipedes
Cockroaches
American
Asian
German
Brown-banded
Smoky brown
Crickets
Darkling beetles
Earwigs
Firebats
Millipedes
Pillbugs
Silverfish
Sowbugs
Spiders
Flying Pests

Clothes moths
Flies
Gnats
Midges
Mosquitoes
Moths
Wasps
Yellow jackets
Pantry & Stored Product Pests

Beetles (exposed adults and immature stages)
Cadelle
Cigarette
Confused flour
Dermestid
Drug-store
Granary weevil
Hide
Larder
Leather
Lesser grain borer
Lesser mealworm
Merchant grain
Mealworm
Red flour
Rice weevil
Sawthoothed grain
Moths
Indian meal
Mediterranean flour
Food Processing Pests

(Same crawling and flying pests and pantry and stored product pests as for Indoor Premise plus)
Fruitflies
Phoridflies
Sciaridflies
Wood Infesting Pests

Beetles
Ambrosia
Deathwatch
False powderpost
Old house borer
Powderposts
Carpenter ants
Carpenter bees
Termites
Subterranean
Formosan
Drywood
Outdoor/Perimeter Pests

Ants
Bees
Boxelder bugs
Carpenter ants
Cecidflies
Centipedes
Clusterflies
Cockroaches
Crickets
Elm leaf beetles
Fire ants
Firebrats
Flies
Fleas
Gnats
Ground beetles
Hornets
Imported red fire ants
Midges
Millipedes
Mosquitoes
Moths
Scorpions
Silverfish
Spiders
Ticks
Wasps
Yellow jackets
* The use of TEMPO for the control of ants, crickets, spiders, midges, wasps, flies and mosquitoes is specific to turf. Apply as a general spray, concentrating on damp areas beneath shrubbery, around foundations and in areas of tall grass or weeds. Do not apply to any food crop. Remove any animal feeding dishes prior to treatment and do not allow spray to contact fish-bearing water.

** Outdoor cockroach control (including Asian cockroaches) is obtained by spraying hiding or resting places such as under shrubbery, in ground covers and mulching materials, in hollow trees, etc.

*** Aids in control only.

 

[havi]

Hopefully you don't have to worry about "Army-Worms", AKA Forest Tent Caterpillars, AKA Gypsy Moths. They are a major PITA!

 

[Tarheelgarage]

I used to kill every spider I saw in the shop . . . . until I started noticing the scorpions hung in the webs. I hate the scorpions worse than the spiders.
Now I only kill the poisonous spiders and every scorpion I see.
Mike

scorpions in GA? I always thought they were out west...
When did they arrive in GA?
Where they brought in by an illegal alien?

 

[Chris Adams]

scorpions in GA? I always thought they were out west...
When did they arrive in GA?
Where they brought in by an illegal alien?

I was wondering myself. We have em here up to about eight inches, and oddly, they kill and eat spiders, even black widows.
Seen really small ones in Texas.

What color and shape are they in GA?


Black and straw colored ones here, classic looking, then the very little ones that look like they are made of string with super long tails, and mostly the ********* and bright green ones.

 

[dmw56]

i just let everything be. The lizards living in the shop take care of everything.

 

[BoydS]

Here in SE Texas we have just about any pest you can think of. The main issue I have with these little critters are the pillbugs and spiders as they seem to be everywhere. The spiders are the most difficult to control, but I have had good success with a product by Ortho called Bug-B-Gon Max for all the others. It's a grandular chemical that is applied outside on the yard and really helps control many insects. The spiders are not that bad, and actually control the population of other insects. I'm learning to live with them as long as they are not poisonous.

As for the geckos, they are free here. It's actually fun to watch them in action, as they are very entertaining to witness their method of stalking to obtain their next meal.

 

[mesquiteforge]

One of the previous responders posted about Tempo WP. It sounds strikingly familiar to what I was going to recommend-Demon WP. Demon WP is a wettable powder (hence the WP) that is extremely effective and easy to use. It is made by a company called Syngenta. I have talked to a lot of pest control professionals that use the product in the commercial form. The product comes in a water soluble packet that you drop in a garden sprayer and have at it. I spray it in the clean out strength vs. the maintenance strength. It seems to last for 3 months at a time. Anything that crawls across the sprayed areas-dies. I spray around doors, windows-inside and out, baseboards, under sinks, around the porches, behind the stove, behind the fridge, in the laundry room etc...anywhere there is water is where the bugs will be going. My garage gets soaked in this stuff and I never see anything crawling in there. Any bugs/insects/spiders I find are usually belly up by the time I see them.

 

[Palmetto]

One of the previous responders posted about Tempo WP. It sounds strikingly familiar to what I was going to recommend-Demon WP. Demon WP is a wettable powder (hence the WP) that is extremely effective and easy to use. It is made by a company called Syngenta. I have talked to a lot of pest control professionals that use the product in the commercial form. The product comes in a water soluble packet that you drop in a garden sprayer and have at it. I spray it in the clean out strength vs. the maintenance strength. It seems to last for 3 months at a time. Anything that crawls across the sprayed areas-dies. I spray around doors, windows-inside and out, baseboards, under sinks, around the porches, behind the stove, behind the fridge, in the laundry room etc...anywhere there is water is where the bugs will be going. My garage gets soaked in this stuff and I never see anything crawling in there. Any bugs/insects/spiders I find are usually belly up by the time I see them.

X2 on the Demon WP.

Now..if I could only find a way to keep the armadillos from digging up my st. augustine....

 

[Joe Mamma]

I was wondering myself. We have em here up to about eight inches, and oddly, they kill and eat spiders, even black widows.

Eight inch scoprions! I'd use a 12g shotgun with some birdshot.

Joe Mamma

 

[litljay]

One of the previous responders posted about Tempo WP. It sounds strikingly familiar to what I was going to recommend-Demon WP. Demon WP is a wettable powder (hence the WP) that is extremely effective and easy to use. It is made by a company called Syngenta. I have talked to a lot of pest control professionals that use the product in the commercial form. The product comes in a water soluble packet that you drop in a garden sprayer and have at it. I spray it in the clean out strength vs. the maintenance strength. It seems to last for 3 months at a time. Anything that crawls across the sprayed areas-dies. I spray around doors, windows-inside and out, baseboards, under sinks, around the porches, behind the stove, behind the fridge, in the laundry room etc...anywhere there is water is where the bugs will be going. My garage gets soaked in this stuff and I never see anything crawling in there. Any bugs/insects/spiders I find are usually belly up by the time I see them.

Both are very similar as they are both a synthetic pyrethroid.

Demon is used as a general household insecticide and Tempo is used more in the food industry (restaurants, food storage warehouses, processing facilities, etc.).
The active ingredients are different, but the basic principle behind them is the same.

Good stuff.

 

[d110pickup]

I'm just north of Atlanta and the scorpions seem to like the slightly rocky ground in this area. I grew up 28 miles south of here (Marietta for the locals) and never saw one until I built a house near Canton 15 years ago.
The scorpions get up 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 long and they're brown. I was stung by one early on a Sunday morning in bed. About 4" from my groin . . . . man that will wake you up! The sting is comparable to a hornet, fairly painful but that's it.
I kill the little bastards every chance I get. Oh yeah, they're very thin and have no problem getting into the house. Apparently they don't affect the cats because we'll sometimes find a mangled one on the floor.
Mike

 

[rieferman]

I have some sort of tiny bug (maybe those little red things you see on leaves? are those aphids) that will be dying in the barn soon (the bug bombing will commence next week before I start closing in walls). They drop (I assume.. never see it happen) from above down the back of my shirt and give me a bite. Always happens when the sawzall is running for some reason. Maybe I'm shaking them loose or something.

 

[CraigFL]

One of the previous responders posted about Tempo WP. It sounds strikingly familiar to what I was going to recommend-Demon WP. Demon WP is a wettable powder (hence the WP) that is extremely effective and easy to use. It is made by a company called Syngenta. I have talked to a lot of pest control professionals that use the product in the commercial form. The product comes in a water soluble packet that you drop in a garden sprayer and have at it. I spray it in the clean out strength vs. the maintenance strength. It seems to last for 3 months at a time. Anything that crawls across the sprayed areas-dies. I spray around doors, windows-inside and out, baseboards, under sinks, around the porches, behind the stove, behind the fridge, in the laundry room etc...anywhere there is water is where the bugs will be going. My garage gets soaked in this stuff and I never see anything crawling in there. Any bugs/insects/spiders I find are usually belly up by the time I see them.

I second the Demon. Odorless & colorless. I've only had to spray twice a year down here in FL---- as long as it isn't getting washed away. You will only see the underside of the bugs when you use this stuff. This is the stuff I used to clear our house of the scorpions that we running all over.

 

[Bevis]

going to find me some Demon WP tomorrow.

 

[Chris Adams]

Eight inch scoprions! I'd use a 12g shotgun with some birdshot.

Joe Mamma

I got my **** chewed by my dad when I was about 13. I flipped a barrel over, moving it, some kid project, and there were two of the biggest scorpions I had ever seen nested under it. They make little half moon pockets and lair that way, under anything flat.
Anyway, scared the heck out of me and without knowing it, I drew and fired six rounds from a Ruger Single Six I carried for snakes. Actually found myself surprised I was holding the empty gun in my hand and thumbing it over and over, scorpions quite dead.
Dad came barreling out, expecting the last scene at the Alamo or something, no pants and a .45 in his fist. Heard the roll of fire, knew I carried a single action and thought someone was shooting at me or the house.
Got a good chewing and a lecture on ‘proper tool for the job’.
We did laugh about it later, when admitted that he had shot a land crab in Florida, thinking it was a big spider, in 42, when he was quite a bit older than 13…

I'm just north of Atlanta and the scorpions seem to like the slightly rocky ground in this area. I grew up 28 miles south of here (Marietta for the locals) and never saw one until I built a house near Canton 15 years ago.
The scorpions get up 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 long and they're brown. I was stung by one early on a Sunday morning in bed. About 4" from my groin . . . . man that will wake you up! The sting is comparable to a hornet, fairly painful but that's it.
I kill the little bastards every chance I get. Oh yeah, they're very thin and have no problem getting into the house. Apparently they don't affect the cats because we'll sometimes find a mangled one on the floor.
Mike

Ouch, been stung there myself, pulling on jeans when I was kid. Cured me of leaving them on the floor...
Cats love scorpions, until they hit about five inches long, then the cats tend to 'live and let live'.
Chickens make the best scorpion eradicators. My grandmother used to keep chickens and she would lay boards out at night, the scorpions would get under them, and the next morning Mom, as everyone called her, would walk around the yard, surrounded by eager chickens, flipping the boards over.
Instant smorgasbord for the chickens.
They would fight over the big ones. Never saw a chicken stung, or act sick afterwards.


Chickens are the best 'bug repellant' and they supply eggs and chicken dinners.

 

[Stargeezer]

Another Bug/Scorpion/Pest Strip Thread-FYI

 

[r6_cannibal]

There's this stuff I use that's pretty effective and based off of rosemary and tea tree oils. Smells of herbs, but it's definitely a potent smell. safe around dogs and kids, I picked mine up at the grocery store. Out here in liberal-land(CA) it's in most of the stores. eco-green, free and clear, hippy-stank or something like that.
The geckos sound neat, I wouldn't mind letting a few of those loose before I have at it with the demon wp stuff.
I just moved into a new place and there are tons of spiders here...I have a shot from the other day I keep meaning to upload to flicker.
keep your friends close...

 

[CrashTestDummy]

I've used mothballs with fair success in our 2-car garage. I primarily used it to keep the rodents out, and it appears to have had 100% success there. I've put a few cans of it out in our 3200 sq. ft. shop, and it doesn't seem to do anything. Not even around the cans. We get lots of crickets and spiders in the shop. After that, ants to eat the cricket parts that are dropped by the spiders. I'd like to find a way to keep them out, the webs and bug bits are a bother around and under the cars.

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

 

[diggertodd]

Almost lost my index finger to a brown recluse spider bite, I don't care how many other bugs spiders eat, I don't tolerate them. I invested about 10 evenings 2 summers ago and spritzed each one with spray killer when the come out to set up shop in the moonlight. That slowed down the overall rate of the outdoor variety, just go out and spray them a couple nights a summer now.

As far as inside the shop, I keep an eye an the sale papers over the winter and gather 18 cans of insect spray bombs on the cheap. 18 cans is double what the directions calls for my shops square footage. (no food stored there, don't care) At the first sign of critters in the spring, I unload all of the cans and leave the shop alone when I go away for a couple of days. Really keeps the shop bug free for the summer.

 

[D KRAGER]

I second the Tempo!! Great stuff and very safe. It is labeled for use indoors even inside kitchen cabinets.

 

[Identaltech]

around here I just wait for winter.
in a few weeks we will have the first killing frost and the bugs go away till next summer.

 

[ZRX61]

I dissolved a Black Widow with a quick spritz of EZOff over cleaner last night

 

[Ggg]

I have the "army worms" in my apple trees that I take a propane torch to. I also have lots of erwigs, asian beetles, and Japanese beetles too. Lizards don't last too long north of the mason/dixon line.
How about a mouse deterrent, any suggestions? Yes I do have mouser cats, but I try to keep them out of the shop due to welding.