How to Protect Yourself From the Poisonous Brown Recluse Spider

To see just how bad the infestation was, I started marking down on my calendar how many brown recluse spiders I would see in one day. Some days it would be as high as 8 or 9. The interesting thing about this was the house had been professionally sprayed only a few weeks before we actually moved in. While I can only hope it helped some, the spider population was not fazed, and we continued to see them in large numbers. So, over the years I have learned some tips that help in dealing with these creepy critters.

1. Use Sticky Spider Traps
   

   
   image by author

   Buy a large supply of sticky traps (the kind you can fold). When I say a large supply, I mean it. Why? Because you will want to put a couple traps under every bed, dresser, or piece of furniture that you can. I actually put 7-8 traps under my kid’s beds, since they are in a corner of the room, and I especially want that part of the house spider-free. You will also want to put traps in closets, attics, or anywhere that is full of junk and not used often. The brown recluse lives up to its name and hangs out in corners, under furniture, in boxes, or piles of wood or junk. Its reclusive nature may be one reason it is attracted to the small opening made by the spider trap.

   On each trap I use an extra piece of packaging tape to wrap around the outside of the box. This helps the trap last longer (thus cheaper).  I also use a marker to write the month and year I put the trap out. That way I have an idea of recent spider activity. The traps eventually get dusty, especially in high traffic areas, so I flip them if the top portion is still usable (again, I’m cheap!). If not, I throw them away. I rotate traps somewhat, in that I keep fresh traps under the beds, and move the somewhat used (bur still have some life left) traps to the attic. I still have traps from 5 years ago up there. At first, I had to change traps more often, but now I only do it once or twice a year, usually in late February, before it warms up some and the spiders become more active in our cold attic. I don’t change all of them, but check to see if I need new ones, need to move some, or need to throw some away.

   Flag It Spam Adult Content Plagiarism Insufficient Quality Wrong Category

   Select the Right Category About Writing Autos Books Business Computers Creative Writing Domestic Gaming General Health Internet Movies Music News Offbeat Pets Poetry Recipes Religion Science Short Stories Society Sports Television Travel Women