Spiders

[pitterpat]

In my 16 x 22 VW garage I have a spider problem. I have not worked in that gar much this summer so every time I go in it I I have a bunch of spider webs. What is the best way to get rid of them if I would not like to take the donor VW out of that gar (will if I have to) and the tool boxes, welders, compressor etc out of that garage. I also don't want to have a film on everything if possible. It is wood frame, w/vinyl siding, I have about 25% of it insulate& no drywall. Open hip roof too.
Thanks

 

[MFolks]

Spiders build webs where there's air movement to catch prey. Reduce/eliminate the breezes, and I'd imagine the spiders will go someplace else. You might have to use a "Bug Bomb" aerosol, to kill your infestation.

 

[BillK]

Pat,
Any of the bug bombs are going to leave a film, period. I really think they are a waste of time in a garage like yours anyway. As soon as the dust settles, new ones will be coming in.

I spray around the entire outside and inside of my detached garage with Ortho Home Defense about 3 times a year. It seems to keep all of the bug population down and with no other bugs you wont have any spiders looking for dinner. If you don't use the garage much, you will have spiders and other bugs no matter what you do.

 

[BADSIX]

if you can, cover most of your stuff with old sheets or something. It doesn't really make much of a mess . Then shoot off 3-4 of the bug bombs. let it set for a few days then air it out for a day or two. Now go around and use the Ortho Home Defense inside and out. Spray around your outside footings and windows, do the same inside all around the footing and anywhere they look like there hiding. the home Defense is good stuff
JD

 

[gayler]

Spiders are your friends. They keep the rif raf out.

 

[lynnbilodeau]

Depends on what kind of spiders you have. You are right on the edge of the habitat of the dreaded fiddleback, or brown recluse spider. I would put out some glue traps to evaluate your enemy. These work well on the brown recluse, as they are specially scented to attract:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/13078554553...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_1230wt_1043

If you have no brown recluse spiders, the foggers will help, but you also need to treat the perimeter AND use a wetable powder solution inside the garage.

On the other hand, if you have brown recluses, you will most likely make the problem worse over time with conventional extermination. The foggers are not very effective against them. The wetable powder even less so. The natural predators are cats, birds and other spiders. Conventional extermination normally removes the predatory spiders.

I have a friend down in Normal OK who put out glue traps and caught 40 fiddlebacks in a weekend. We have caught about 30 since June 23, the day my angel of a wife was bitten by one. She has still not healed after two surgeries and twice weekly treatments at the hospital wound treatment facility and use of a "wound vac". I am attaching several pics, starting with the bite location at day 2, then day 5, one month, and a couple weeks ago. At day 15 (third pic) we thought it was looking good. The whole thing scabbed over. The scab got thick and hard, just like a turtle shell. I figured the wound would just slowly close over. Instead, that whole area began to sink in until it was about an inch deep, as a result of the underlying flesh rotting away. That is when they recommended surgery to stop the flesh from rotting. Even though I had her at the hospital within a couple hours of being bitten (I knew exactly what it was when she showed it to me) we were told there is no anti-venom, and that we would just have to wait to see how far the necrosis crept.

Mind you, this is a very healthy lady who donated a kidney to our then 18 year old last summer and was ready to mow the lawn after 4 weeks (I wouldn't let her). This has been 11 weeks, and she is just now able to do anything light duty outside. That would area was 8 inches by 5 inches after the first surgery, where they had to dig out all of the rotten flesh.

Finally, I have attached a pic of one of the little bastards. You may have to look under maginifcation to see the fiddle shape on the back, but if you find one of these, do not mess around. Although they are not aggressive, they will bite a human if they feel threatened.

If you discover fiddlebacks, buy a lot of the glue traps (I am not the seller, nor am I affilliated with the seller). Place them all through the space, especially any dark areas. If you have attic space, put them all over the attic.

 

[pitterpat]

Pat,
Any of the bug bombs are going to leave a film, period. I really think they are a waste of time in a garage like yours anyway. As soon as the dust settles, new ones will be coming in.

I spray around the entire outside and inside of my detached garage with Ortho Home Defense about 3 times a year. It seems to keep all of the bug population down and with no other bugs you wont have any spiders looking for dinner. If you don't use the garage much, you will have spiders and other bugs no matter what you do.

I will do this. I plan to use it more but with 2 jobs it's been hard; but that will be coming to an end soon.

 

[pitterpat]

Depends on what kind of spiders you have. You are right on the edge of the habitat of the dreaded fiddleback, or brown recluse spider. I would put out some glue traps to evaluate your enemy. These work well on the brown recluse, as they are specially scented to attract:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/13078554553...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_1230wt_1043

If you have no brown recluse spiders, the foggers will help, but you also need to treat the perimeter AND use a wetable powder solution inside the garage.

On the other hand, if you have brown recluses, you will most likely make the problem worse over time with conventional extermination. The foggers are not very effective against them. The wetable powder even less so. The natural predators are cats, birds and other spiders. Conventional extermination normally removes the predatory spiders.

I have a friend down in Normal OK who put out glue traps and caught 40 fiddlebacks in a weekend. We have caught about 30 since June 23, the day my angel of a wife was bitten by one. She has still not healed after two surgeries and twice weekly treatments at the hospital wound treatment facility and use of a "wound vac". I am attaching several pics, starting with the bite location at day 2, then day 5, one month, and a couple weeks ago. At day 15 (third pic) we thought it was looking good. The whole thing scabbed over. The scab got thick and hard, just like a turtle shell. I figured the wound would just slowly close over. Instead, that whole area began to sink in until it was about an inch deep, as a result of the underlying flesh rotting away. That is when they recommended surgery to stop the flesh from rotting. Even though I had her at the hospital within a couple hours of being bitten (I knew exactly what it was when she showed it to me) we were told there is no anti-venom, and that we would just have to wait to see how far the necrosis crept.

Mind you, this is a very healthy lady who donated a kidney to our then 18 year old last summer and was ready to mow the lawn after 4 weeks (I wouldn't let her). This has been 11 weeks, and she is just now able to do anything light duty outside. That would area was 8 inches by 5 inches after the first surgery, where they had to dig out all of the rotten flesh.

Finally, I have attached a pic of one of the little bastards. You may have to look under maginifcation to see the fiddle shape on the back, but if you find one of these, do not mess around. Although they are not aggressive, they will bite a human if they feel threatened.

If you discover fiddlebacks, buy a lot of the glue traps (I am not the seller, nor am I affilliated with the seller). Place them all through the space, especially any dark areas. If you have attic space, put them all over the attic.

Hope your wife is on the mend. That looks really bad.

 

[tomsmith]

Good grief! Man, I hope your wife recovers from this .. I have never seen anything that bad

 

[pitterpat]

How many of these traps do I need? The Big H ones?

 

[DangerousDan55]

I am working part time at a farm. Opened a small electric box to check a relay. Pulled it partialy out by my hand. Lossened a wire clamp to get more slack. Started to pull the relay the rest of the way but saw a black widow spider inside where my fingers were.
Somebody was looking out for me!
I need to inspect things before I put my fingers in stuff....

 

[slghmmr88]

I use the Raid fumagator which is not an aerosol, but a chemical reaction with a fog/smoke to deliver. Have had good luck and no film.

 

[Moose97]

OK, what I'm fixin to tell you sounds crazy but it works. Been using it all my life. Go for a drive in the country and find a bois d'arc tree (sometimes referred to as a horse apple tree). Collect several whole horse apples that have fallen. Take them home and cut them in half and place them on paper plates around the floor (under shelves/out of the way). Spiders hate the smell (you won't notice it even when they rot) and will leave in a couple of weeks. You can also place them in the return air chases in your house and get rid of spiders that way. You need several.

 

[lynnbilodeau]

How many of these traps do I need? The Big H ones?

First, I would start with one package of 5 and after catching some spiders, see what you are dealing with. Sometimes it is hard to see. Take a digital pic if you can and magnifiy. If you can't do that, use a magnifying glass. I posted a pic of one. Like I said, Indy is right on the boarder (have attached a map showing where they live).

If you don't have them, I would use the more conventional methods to exterminate. Once you determine you do have fiddlebacks, then it depends on the size of your house. I bought 10 packages of 50. Gave away about half of them to family, friends and neighbors who told me they did not have any fiddlebacks in the house. They all caught at least a few. They are everywhere in Oklahoma, and especially bad this year after a mild winter and wet spring and summer. I doubt there is any home without some fiddlebacks. Because they are so reclusive, you may never see them.

After giving so many away, we bought another 50. Probably overkill... but you did see the pics of my wife's wound, right?

On another note, I may have to find some road apples (I think most of those trees are in Southern OK and Northern TX, so maybe next time I am headed down I-35).

 

[wrench409]

OK, what I'm fixin to tell you sounds crazy but it works. Been using it all my life. Go for a drive in the country and find a bois d'arc tree (sometimes referred to as a horse apple tree). Collect several whole horse apples that have fallen. Take them home and cut them in half and place them on paper plates around the floor (under shelves/out of the way). Spiders hate the smell (you won't notice it even when they rot) and will leave in a couple of weeks. You can also place them in the return air chases in your house and get rid of spiders that way. You need several.

I've heard that before and I know where there is a tree.

 

[Bull]

OK, what I'm fixin to tell you sounds crazy but it works. Been using it all my life. Go for a drive in the country and find a bois d'arc tree (sometimes referred to as a horse apple tree). Collect several whole horse apples that have fallen. Take them home and cut them in half and place them on paper plates around the floor (under shelves/out of the way). Spiders hate the smell (you won't notice it even when they rot) and will leave in a couple of weeks. You can also place them in the return air chases in your house and get rid of spiders that way. You need several.

That's awesome! I love tips like that. I don't have any poisonous spiders around here (that I know of) but would like to try this in my basement, anyway.

Actually, my understanding is that even though the Recluse and Widow don't live up here permanently or in great numbers, they can be found up here thanks to hitchhiking on shipments from other parts of the country. Hopefully the little buggers don't adapt to cold environments and stay here.

Also: I had to scroll down this thread with my eyes closed because I do NOT want to see those pics. Sounds ghastly. Best wishes to your wife; may she recover quickly and completely from here on out.

 

[NUTTSGT]

OK, what I'm fixin to tell you sounds crazy but it works. Been using it all my life. Go for a drive in the country and find a bois d'arc tree (sometimes referred to as a horse apple tree). Collect several whole horse apples that have fallen. Take them home and cut them in half and place them on paper plates around the floor (under shelves/out of the way). Spiders hate the smell (you won't notice it even when they rot) and will leave in a couple of weeks. You can also place them in the return air chases in your house and get rid of spiders that way. You need several.

I've been told about the Horse Apples too.

 

[lynnbilodeau]

Thanks to the well wishers. She is definitely on the road to recovery. Just been slow. She insisted on helping me lay sod early this morning before we went to the office. She never once has complained. She just takes it in stride. I am truly the luckiest man alive to be married to such an angel.

 

[gpflepsen]

Horse apples... seems close to road apples... We call them Hedge apples, from the Osage Orange tree.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Finally, I have attached a pic of one of the little bastards. You may have to look under maginifcation to see the fiddle shape on the back, but if you find one of these, do not mess around. Although they are not aggressive, they will bite a human if they feel threatened.

If you discover fiddlebacks, buy a lot of the glue traps (I am not the seller, nor am I affilliated with the seller). Place them all through the space, especially any dark areas. If you have attic space, put them all over the attic.

+a million! My wife was the victim of a Brown Recluse as well, and she's severely handicapped including her immune system, so we were terrified. It was on her foot and she was being treated for a long time with a product called Regranex, something that eats dead tissue and promotes new growth. Over a period of about 10 weeks, she had a wound that got as big as a half dollar at it's largest. Must have been a rather small BR, as an acquaintence of mine was also bit, but was severely sick for six months. The BR has an unbelieveably toxic venom and is worse then the Northern Black Widow, which we also have here, though I've seen none to this date. I have seen the BRs, unfortunately. I use Ortho Max and spray at least 3 times a year, along with using electronic pest repellers in nearly every room, including the garage. I plan to add a few more to the garage. Even though I live near Lake Huron, I have cut my spider supply by about 90% through this. I'm going to look into the glue traps as well.

ETA: The latest Ortho HD Max product I have now says it works for Brown Recluse and Black Widows, along with Hobo and Wolf spiders as well.

BTW, that map is old. If we've got them in Michigan, I'm quite sure they're in Indiana.

 

[iajonesy]

We call them "hedge apples" around here and this really works. Put the halves in corners and along foundations,under stairwells,and any place else you have found spiders in the past. It doesn't kill them but they move out quickly and become prey for other things.

Mike

 

[Aspen RT]

I remember my grandpa using hedge apples for the same thing.

 

[pendragon1998]

Oh man, why did I read this thread right before bed?

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

Depends on what kind of spiders you have. You are right on the edge of the habitat of the dreaded fiddleback, or brown recluse spider. I would put out some glue traps to evaluate your enemy. These work well on the brown recluse, as they are specially scented to attract:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/13078554553...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_1230wt_1043

If you have no brown recluse spiders, the foggers will help, but you also need to treat the perimeter AND use a wetable powder solution inside the garage.

On the other hand, if you have brown recluses, you will most likely make the problem worse over time with conventional extermination. The foggers are not very effective against them. The wetable powder even less so. The natural predators are cats, birds and other spiders. Conventional extermination normally removes the predatory spiders.

I have a friend down in Normal OK who put out glue traps and caught 40 fiddlebacks in a weekend. We have caught about 30 since June 23, the day my angel of a wife was bitten by one. She has still not healed after two surgeries and twice weekly treatments at the hospital wound treatment facility and use of a "wound vac". I am attaching several pics, starting with the bite location at day 2, then day 5, one month, and a couple weeks ago. At day 15 (third pic) we thought it was looking good. The whole thing scabbed over. The scab got thick and hard, just like a turtle shell. I figured the wound would just slowly close over. Instead, that whole area began to sink in until it was about an inch deep, as a result of the underlying flesh rotting away. That is when they recommended surgery to stop the flesh from rotting. Even though I had her at the hospital within a couple hours of being bitten (I knew exactly what it was when she showed it to me) we were told there is no anti-venom, and that we would just have to wait to see how far the necrosis crept.

Mind you, this is a very healthy lady who donated a kidney to our then 18 year old last summer and was ready to mow the lawn after 4 weeks (I wouldn't let her). This has been 11 weeks, and she is just now able to do anything light duty outside. That would area was 8 inches by 5 inches after the first surgery, where they had to dig out all of the rotten flesh.

Finally, I have attached a pic of one of the little bastards. You may have to look under maginifcation to see the fiddle shape on the back, but if you find one of these, do not mess around. Although they are not aggressive, they will bite a human if they feel threatened.

If you discover fiddlebacks, buy a lot of the glue traps (I am not the seller, nor am I affilliated with the seller). Place them all through the space, especially any dark areas. If you have attic space, put them all over the attic.

Ive been bitten by one of those rotten bastards before,fortunately I went to a dr before it reached that level.
Definately gives you a whole new outlook on spiders though!

 

[Heavymetalmechanic]

The brown recluse is a lot more common then most people think. We have a real problem with them in my home, garage and shop. My house cats no longer attack spiders and both have survived nasty (and expensive) bites. I have been very lucky, I was bitten on the back of my right hand by one hiding in a box of empty beer bottles being stored in the shed. The first bite immediately swelled and formed a target shaped ring the size of a nickel. The second bite 2" away was smaller, less then a dime. Oddly the bites did not start to burn for 30 minutes or so, but then hurt quite badly. I did not know at the time what I had been bitten by. I treated them with rubbing alcohol followed by witchhazel. Within 6 hours the centers of both bites had turned black and formed a crater 3/32" deep, with the ring swelling an 1/8" up. At which point my wife and a friend talked me into seeing a doctor, a preventitive does of antibiotics was all he said he could do other the surgery if they worsened. I was lucky, neither spread but it did affect my tendons on my right ring and index fingers.

I am sorry to hear that your wife was less fortunate, I hope she continues to heal well.

We set glue traps the day after the bite in the shed and basement, trapped a disgusting number of brown recluse (50+ total). Left the traps out and sprayed a home defense product around all interior and exterior perimeters and access points. Deal with the spiders food and their numbers drop. Still have a few but no where near the amount.

 

[lynnbilodeau]

"Ive been bitten by one of those rotten bastards before,fortunately I went to a dr before it reached that level.
Definately gives you a whole new outlook on spiders though!"

What did the Dr. do for you? I had my wife at the ER within a couple hours (morning) of the bite. Had to take her back that night because the pain got so bad. ER doc said all they can do is treat the pain. I watched the affected area go from silver dollar size redness to the 8 x5 rectangle of black and blue in about an hour.

One of her issues is the location. If you are bitten in an area where there is a lot of muscle movement, the natural blood flow will help flush the toxins. Hers is on the left hip. Very little blood flow. Her second issue (I believe) is that she has a lot of allergies, which may make HER particular reaction worse than most. Thirdly, apparently she got every bit of venom that little ******* had to give.

While the focus of our plan is preventment, i.e. getting rid of the buggers, I have also looked into cures. There is one purported treatment that has not been embraced by the medical community. Check this out:
http://insects.about.com/b/2008/12/22/brown-recluse-bite-grab-a-stun-gun-and-zap-away-the-pain.htm

The problem is testing. Different folks react differently. Plus, not all bites are equal. The fiddleback only bites if threatened. Short bite, not much venom. There is virtually no way to test the stun gun short of getting a subject to agree to injection of venom on two sites, then zapping one and letting the other run its course. Who is going to volunteer?

I don't know if it works. I do know I bought a stun gun. If I get bit, it is worth getting zapped a couple times just on the chance that I won't have similar results as my wife.

 

[dbabicky]

OK, what I'm fixin to tell you sounds crazy but it works. Been using it all my life. Go for a drive in the country and find a bois d'arc tree (sometimes referred to as a horse apple tree). Collect several whole horse apples that have fallen. Take them home and cut them in half and place them on paper plates around the floor (under shelves/out of the way). Spiders hate the smell (you won't notice it even when they rot) and will leave in a couple of weeks. You can also place them in the return air chases in your house and get rid of spiders that way. You need several.

Yep, use them all the time, they work great on spiders, bugs, mice, ect. Buy them right in the local grocery store. Work awesome !!

 

[JimmyTheMonkey]

Ortho Home Defense works great for me. Just spray it around the exterior of the house and the interior of the garage and you should be fine. Doesnt take long at all and last a long time.

 

[Disney]

I've also been bit by a Brown Recluse. Probably the worst exerience of my life to date. Got bit going to bed, thought maybe it was a flee or something. Didn't think anything of it. Woke up completely delirious. 104-105* temp. and had severe rigormortis. I could barely move a muscle. All I could do was scream to get the attention of a neighbor after what seemed like hours. No idea what had happened. Neighbor kicked in the door to help me, called ambulance and they got me to the ER. ER couldn't find anything that would cause my symptoms and convinced themselves I had food poisoning. They gave me meds for that and shipped me out. I still had no idea I had been bit on the back of my thigh at this point. That night my fever was coming down and I could start to think straight. My girlfriend was helping me into bed and she hit the back of my thigh and I felt the pain. She looked at it and it hit me that I had felt something back there the night before. Back to the ER.

Went to ER 3x with no resolution of course. Finally went to Vanderbilt poison control. My whole body was beat red and any joint I moved would turn purple around that joint. They used me as a case study which was painful, but all of my treatments were free. I ended up with a crater in the back of my leg and creeps people out when they see it.


And now i live way back in the woods with probably hundreds of these little guys all over the place. I I have tried to get rid of them, but there are just too many. So I live with it.

Never heard about the hedge apple trick. I have some growing at the front of my property. I think i'll give it a shot. Can't hurt!

 

[Duct Tape Man]

We get lots of wolf spiders in this area of Virginia. They take care of the little bugs, eat other spiders like black widows (seen a couple of those too this year) and are one of the few things that eat stink bugs.

Down side is that wolf spider bites are painful, I got bit by one last month and it swelled my hand up good for about a week. Also, they get to a good size, largest one I have seen around here is about 5 inches long with the legs, so there's a good "freak" factor when one is near/on you.

bottom line when you live near the woods is, if you think spiders are around your place, wear gloves when reaching into somewhere you can't see.

 

[Moose97]

Horse apples... seems close to road apples... We call them Hedge apples, from the Osage Orange tree.

Yep! Pretty sure it's the same tree just called by a different name in different locations. Will wreck a saw if trying to cut them. Hard as all get out. They were used for years here in Texas as house piers. See them in old houses all the time. They never rot!

 

[skippy24]

Holy **** you guys have had some bad experiences! I used to get about 5-10 Black Widows in my garage every year then I made an real effort to spray a few times with Ortho Home Defense and keep the garage clean and organized. Now I really one see one or two if that. Never heard about the apple trick.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I don't know if it works. I do know I bought a stun gun. If I get bit, it is worth getting zapped a couple times just on the chance that I won't have similar results as my wife.

Interesting. I may have to buy one of those as well.

 

[trying]

Usually, they hang out in the grooves of the vinyl, that's a drawback with vinyl, it offers a good place for them to lay low and then, come out at night and grab. Try caulking the groove area with some flexible type caulking where it meets the j-track or what ever tracks you have with just enough to block them from setting up a home.

 

[Woody610nb]

Well there is a saying that says, "your never more than 3 feet from a spider".

 

[Schleprock]

Well there is a saying that says, "your never more than 3 feet from a spider".

Damn you, I'd never heard that before and wish I never read it either!!

 

[cburnscrx]

First, I would start with one package of 5 and after catching some spiders, see what you are dealing with. Sometimes it is hard to see. Take a digital pic if you can and magnifiy. If you can't do that, use a magnifying glass. I posted a pic of one. Like I said, Indy is right on the boarder (have attached a map showing where they live).

If you don't have them, I would use the more conventional methods to exterminate. Once you determine you do have fiddlebacks, then it depends on the size of your house. I bought 10 packages of 50. Gave away about half of them to family, friends and neighbors who told me they did not have any fiddlebacks in the house. They all caught at least a few. They are everywhere in Oklahoma, and especially bad this year after a mild winter and wet spring and summer. I doubt there is any home without some fiddlebacks. Because they are so reclusive, you may never see them.

After giving so many away, we bought another 50. Probably overkill... but you did see the pics of my wife's wound, right?

On another note, I may have to find some road apples (I think most of those trees are in Southern OK and Northern TX, so maybe next time I am headed down I-35).

As an Indy resident, I can verify we have the Brown Recluse here. I've seen them in person.

 

[coljar]

Wow, I've read a lot of bad stuff here. I WAS using the number of spider webs to gauge the lack of time I was spending in the garage lately, but now I'm staying out of there..................not.

 

[Riley]

What? Staying out of the garage? Blasphemy!

Beat the spiders. If Ortho works great, I use spectracide in a spray a few times a year. I did do one at night this year and found that beneficial.

In fact, as it begins to cool down it's time to make the last round with a barrier product to keep them from moving back in.

These guys are OK...

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/brown-recluse-spiders-c-311.html

 

[ozyborn]

Great. my wife read this thread, she hates and fears spiders. Now I have hedge apple halves all around the house, in the basement.