In case you even have this happen, here’s the low down on the spider killing experience.
Spraying for spiders is usually ineffective because of the body not touching the ground thing.
So, here’s what was done:
- He sprayed the other day to “keep them down” until he could get back for the full treatment.
- Tuesday, we took off all the outlet and switch covers.
- He used a bulb duster to get in and behind the electrical boxes. This is the main spider treatment as they usually travel INSIDE the walls. ICK. They get the dust on their legs and lick it off like a dog. DEAD. This is a one time treatment, likely never needed again in the life of the house. My outlets are deadly to bugs forever.
- Then he sprayed the base boards again. They they won’t necessarily die from it, they will want to avoid it.
- After the ground floor was thoroughly hostile to bug-types, he bombed the attic. Which he said would make them all run down the walls through the dust. Great. (He saw three more of the buggers in the attic, BTW)
- We had to stay out for three hours to let the attic bomb settle.
- Then I came home and put the switch and outlet covers back on, calling the bug guy three or four times worried that the dust on the floor might be bug dust and not dry wall and hurt baby….no, it’s dry wall…only three ounces of dust in the whole house, ma’am….don’t know if it’s related to Sevin Dust, ma’am…yes, ma’am, using gloves to replace the panels is advisable…yes ma’am, no ma’am, etc.
- Apparently, he’s going to come back and spray each month for a few months, something about eggs hatching. I have no idea how that works as the bodies don’t touch the ground but I blacked out at the thought of millions of spider babies and just signed the paperwork.
You absolutely did the right thing. ugh. I can’t imagine dealing with that – which is one reason why we moved so far north. Good luck to you!
Oh wow, might have to research this a little more. My house is a spider resort-for ALL types of spiders! Actually woke up the other morning and found one on my pillow.
I know of 3 unusual items that kill spiders faster then “spider killer” and less messy then dropping a book on them. (or 6) (spider killer apparently works within 24 hrs – not acceptable for me)
I lived in a basement apartment that was infested with Wolf Spiders on summer – and I’m arachnophobic.
scrubby bubbles – in the bottle not the can – but they changed the formula so it may not work as well the foam does something 2 it and it shrivels up. I’ve sprayed 1 of the evil creatures on a wall and then come back after work and scraped it off into a trashcan with a note card.
rubbing alcohol – your mileage may vary – my friend in Brazil used it to kill tarantulas (UGH UGH UGH UGH) I think the alcohol based hand sanitizer is supposed to work best (sticks to it).
and this one is not as safe, but it worked. I had a wolf spider that wouldn’t die so as a last resort, I poured some of my soda ash solution for dying (aka washing soda), it shriveled up. I ended up throwing everything in the box away because of the chemicals i had used and because washing soda is caustic.
And remember – if you see a spider (no matter what type – I can’t even begin to imagine dangerous spiders in my house – I would move) and try to kill it and it ran away. Well it ran away to die. as soon as it left your sight it died.
and have the exterminator come to be on the safe side cause UGH.
SCARY! I don’t mind mice, can handle black and garden type snakes, they really don’t bother me. Spiders on the other hand… ACK! We found at least 5 black widows in the garden this year. They are normally in the garage. My husband reached into the q-tip box a couple of months ago…and found a brown recluse in the box! So thankful it didn’t bite him! I hope this takes care of the spider problem for you.
I know spiders have an important job but EWW! As long as they aren’t poisonous I let them be.
My new (only) cat has, over the last 8 months, entirely eliminated the spider population in my home. Before we had a LOT of different types of spiders, for the 5 years that we lived here, including those gigantic tarantula sized (but skinnier bodies) European house spiders (WA state). This was an older unwanted “on his way to the pound” fat black cat too. Now he is our super spider-killing hero.
I am glad you got the spider-cide initiated. Hopefully this will be well enough. You might want to have a re-arrangement day for your stuff. I use to do this a few times a year…rearrange my furniture with spring/fall-cleaning. I would move my large pieces of furniture and vacuum/dust/check for pests behind & under it. Sometimes it was just for cleaning and put it back in the same place and sometimes I just wanted a change altogether. I think this gives the opportunity to disturb any critters that think they are safe there and if I do not find them first and smash them, hopefully they move on and out. God bless and happy spider killing.
“something about eggs hatching”
ugh nonononono this is NOT cool
I surely would like to know what is in the “dust” that the exterminator used. Was it Diatomaceous Earth ? or something with poison in it ??
I certainly can’t see worrying about a couple of spiders. I am sure you have a lot more around than what you have seen. If they upset you that much carry them outside rather than use poison around kids and pets. We all know they serve a purpose or we wouldn’t have them, so how about some herbs to naturally repel them?