This morning I nearly had one of those breakdowns where you curl up in a ball and sob things like, "I-JUST-CAN'T-TAKE-IT-ANYMORE!!!"
Except I wasn't referring to Tamarind or being alone here in Albuquerque.
There was a spider...
And it was crawling up my leg.
That's where I draw the line.
I can't recall if I've mentioned my spider woes yet in this blog. But I have so many spiders here. Most of them are quarter-sized brown spiders like this one:
But there are also Black Widows hanging around at Tamarind and I'm pretty sure I killed one that had made a web right by my screen door. (You can imagine how thrilled I am about that.)
It is really starting to drive me nuts. I'm constantly on edge and I'm having trouble sleeping at night because of it.
Last night was the first night in weeks that I actually slept the whole night through and didn't jump out of my bed and throw off all of the covers because I thought there were spiders on my ceiling or in my bed.
I thought that I had made a breakthrough... I was feeling like I'd finally overcome my fear (or at least had made myself tired enough to sleep through it) and then the very next morning I have a spider on me. Seriously... I'm at my wits end.
Okay, okay... so I know that spiders are a very important part of the food chain and that they keep other little housepests in check. And if I had one friendly little spider hanging out somewhere in my house, that would be fine. But in the past few weeks, I've probably killed two spiders a day on average. That's what I call an infestation... and it creeps the heck out of me.
I think the biggest problem is that this guest house was converted from an old garage. While it seems fairly well constructed, I think there are a lot of gaps and holes and other entry points that resulted from the conversion. I probably have nests of spiders living in my walls. The most visible areas are the giant gap at the bottom right corner of my front door...
And the swamp cooler that is installed in my wall by my computer. See the white spot in the middle of the grate? That is light shining through from the outside of the house. As I see most of my little spider friends crawling on the wall by my computer, this seems like a popular spot to get in.
Okay... so what do I do? I tried installing weather stripping on my front door to close that gap, but then the door wouldn't shut. I'm not even really sure what I'd try to do with the swamp cooler besides cover over it. I'd happily spray the house with something if I thought it would actually help, but I know they'll just keep coming in. I welcome any suggestions from you readers. Is there anything that you've had success with? I know that BD probably has some good shampoo/herbal/catnip spider friendly way to get rid of these guys. If you have a thought... leave me a comment!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Spider Trauma-Rama
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3 comments:
you are right bd probs has a good answer, and i will prompt her to post tomorrow. as you know, we have had many spider problems along the way, here is an answer i googled:
"Vacuum up "webbing spiders" and close off entry points so they can't get back into the home, according to Harold Harlen, senior entomologist at the National Pest Management Association in Dunn Loring, Virginia. For "wandering" spiders, place sticky traps around the basement to catch them. Clean all webs down, either with a vacuum or a brush, and stick the brush in hot soapy water for a few minutes. (If using a vacuum, take the bag out immediately, seal it in a larger plastic bag, and put it in your normal trash.) Also, consider doing away with the insects that attract the spiders. In a basement setting, reducing the humidity below 60 percent for at least a few days eliminates a number of the soft-bodied insects that spiders tend to feed on."
we got glue traps once and they seemed to work okay. beth is a big fan of the removeable weather stripping you can caulk into places.
more google info:
A natural spray to make yourself -
Ingredients:
Peppermint, Lavender or any natural soap.
1 ounce of Neem Oil
1 to 5 drops of any Essential Plant Oils to 1 Quart of water - Catnip Oil, Citronella Oil, Lavender Oil, Cinnamon Oil, Peppermint Oil, Citrus Oil, Tea Tree Oil, or other essential oils.
Add 5 tablespoons of the soap per quart water. Add one ounce of the Neem oil to the water which you have added the soap and label it. Shake well and spray inside house where spiders are seen. Test for strength. May be done as often as needed. This is not a long term solution but will provide you immediate help. Oils may stain some fabrics or light coloured furnishings, test first.
Spray outside the house: Use the same formula to spray the foundation, eaves and soffits, and the areas around doors, windows and crawls space, or attic vents, or any area where you see spiders congregating. You can also use any citrus based cleaner like Citra Solv at 1 oz per quart water. Spray around the outside of the house or where spiders congregate.
OR: Dust your windowsills and door frames with Lemon Pledge. Spiders apparently don't like the taste of it.
good luck buddy! that sucks! i so know the feeling of being creeped out by spiders.
xoxo kt
Where was all that info when I was creeped out by Chilean spiders? Sorry, that's a nasty feeling.
xo KO
Hmmm,
I think you are going to have to resort to poison. Like the real deal bad poison. Try to find some red devil zip-away caulk for any spider points of entry (besides the front door). This stuff is easily removable for when you leave. We did use glue traps before -make sure to get traps that are flush with the floor so the spiders are more likely to come across them. Also, vacuum daily. I know that sux, but it will help. Knowing how you feel about spiders I would just get the poison. Spray outside though, along the borders of your place and windows/doors. Not inside if you can help it.
I don't know about that lemon pledge thing. It could end up attracting bees as lemon pledge mimics the scent of the queen bee.
Hope that helps!
bd
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