Spider Identification & Prevention
What are spiders?
Spiders are arachnids that are well-known predators and help to limit the number of insects in the environment. Being an arachnid means that they have two body parts, eight legs, and lack wings and antennae. All spiders produce silk that they use for various things, including building webs or lining burrows. They also all have hollow fangs they use to inject venom into their prey to paralyze it.
When living in Idaho, you may come into contact with a variety of spiders in your home or yard, including wolf spiders, black widow spiders, and hobo spiders.
Are spiders dangerous?
Spiders possess venom to paralyze prey and defend themselves. Most spiders like hobo spiders and wolf spiders only have venom that is potent enough to affect other spiders and insects. It is not toxic enough to harm a person or cause significant health concerns. Staying away from spiders and not purposely provoking them is always recommended because, while not dangerous, spider bites can be painful and lead to secondary infections.
The spider species living in our area that we should be most concerned with is the black widow. Their venom is potent enough to cause problems for people, attacking the nervous system and causing symptoms like muscle soreness, nausea, vomiting, difficulty breathing, sweating, and more. The dangers black widow spiders pose to us outweighs their benefits as hunters, and they should not be allowed to live on our properties!
Why do I have a spider problem?
Properties with a lot of vegetation are desirable to spiders. Lots of insects live in gardens and areas of vegetation, and spiders eat insects. In addition to lots of plant life, things like open trash cans, pet food, pet excrement, and outdoor lighting will also attract the insects that spiders feed on to your property. Clogged gutters, leaky pipes, and lots of landscaping near your home’s perimeter can create a moist environment that also attracts many of the insects that spiders feed on.
Spiders are outdoor pests, but they can easily become indoor pests after following their prey inside. Any opening, big or small, that leads into your home will allow insects to move indoors to escape bad weather or to search for food. Spiders will follow their insect prey inside through those same openings. Once inside, if there is a place for them to hide and plenty of food, they generally stay, enjoying the benefits that come with living in a temperature-controlled environment.
Where will I find spiders?
There are two categories of spiders; those that hunt their prey and web-building spiders. Web-building spiders build webs that they use to live in or as a way to capture their prey. Hunting spiders don’t create webs but do create burrows that they live and hide in. They actively chase after and hunt down their prey.
Wolf spiders are an example of a hunting spider. They create burrows at ground level, usually under woodpiles, dense vegetation, tall grass, and leaf piles. If these spiders wander indoors, they aren’t great climbers and typically hide in the bottom of closets, under furniture, or in basement clutter.
Hobo Spiders build funnel webs at ground level due to their poor climbing abilities. Gardens, fields, yards, woodpiles, and areas with shrubbery are common places to find these spiders outside. In homes and other indoor structures, they create webs in basements, crawl spaces, and inside cabinets or closets.
Black widow spiders also build webs, usually near the ground. They prefer very dark, secluded areas and build their messy, tangly webs in overgrown landscaping, gardens, shrubbery, and woodpiles. If they have moved into a structure, they like to place their webs in garages, sheds, basements, closets, and areas of clutter.
How do I get rid of spiders?
Don’t share your home with eight-legged intruders for another day, to get rid of spiders from your property, turn to the pest control experts at Falls Pest Services. Using our customized services, we will meet all your pest control needs, and spiders and other pests will no longer cause problems for you and your family!
Falls Pest Services is a local, licensed, and insured company dedicated to providing our customers with affordable pest control services!. Whether you are a home or business owner, we can help you maintain a pest-free property.
How can I prevent spiders in the future?
The best way to prevent problems with spiders is to partner with a professional. In conjunction with professional home pest control and commercial pest control services, the following tips can help you avoid attracting spiders to your yard and home.
- Closely look at your home’s exterior, and if you find any gaps or other openings, make sure to seal them to keep wandering spiders out of your house.
- Make sure screens placed in open windows and your doors have doorsweeps.
- Maintain your lawn. Keep grass cut short and keep landscaping trimmed to eliminate favorite hiding spots for spiders.
- Don’t store firewood piles or trash cans right next to the outside walls of your home.
- Leave a space between landscaping plants and your foundation.
- Always inspect storage boxes, firewood, and other outside items before bringing them inside your home.
- Keep your home free of the clutter where spiders and their insect prey like to hide.
Call us today to learn more about our wide range of premium pest control options in Idaho Falls!
