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Wondering how to take care of the black widow spiders and brown recluse spiders in your yard?
A discussion on the message board came up with information and some solutions. The following is a snippet of what was said:
• I can’t give you a recommendation, but can share your concern. We had a ton of them a couple of months ago. I killed 6 underneath our outdoor table and chairs alone, plus another 5-10 in other places along with a multitude of egg sacs. And, I could see many of them underneath the top rail of the back fence. I thought I would have to get a professional, as it worried me that they were in places that the kids would inadvertently put a little hand. But I was even more worried that I read that it takes some pretty intense chemicals to kill them.
However, after I removed as many webs as I could find and killed all the spiders and egg sacs that I saw (the webs make it pretty easy to hunt down where they are hiding), the problem seems to have disappeared. Not that there may not be some still around, but it no longer worries me. I would also suggest putting the kids toys in a sealed container and regularly looking around their trikes/ scooters, etc. for signs of any activity and possible hiding places. And, of course, if your kids are old enough, educate them about what to look out for.
– Michelle
• …as someone who sees people for health related issues, I KNOW that chemicals are at the root cause of many issues (everything from chronic disease to hormonal disruption). So, its best to avoid them as much as you possibly can.
There have been some GREAT suggestions on how to handle them without using poisons. Besides, it will not eradicate them, just temporarily get rid of them. Then you have to repeat…
And for your edification go to http://www.chem-tox.com/pesticides/
-Anne
• The black and brown widow spiders are almost always found outside, in basements and crawl spaces, garages, etc. The Browns are not native to San Diego and have only recently appeared here, likely on egg sacks arriving on the patio furniture of people moving here from other states.
We did have quite a problem with the Brown Widows last summer, which for some reason, decided they loved our mailbox! This was horrible – every time I went to get the mail I had to use BBQ tongs to lift out my letters and then quickly stomp on the spiders when they fell on the ground near my feet!
My husband finally put some caulking in some little openings in the box and that stopped them coming in. Not sure why it worked, since the mailbox is still far from spider-tight, but they didn’t go in anymore after that.
We found the spiders and their spikey round egg sacks all over the place summer before last. All over the trash cans, in our kids’ treehouse, on our outdoor furniture and outdoor sand toys and ride-on toys, and worst of all, on the play structure at home AND AT MY KIDS SCHOOL! We live in South Park, close to downtown, so this is not some rural phenomenon.
The best solution is NOT spraying – in fact, this all started for us after we started spraying for ants! We noticed all of the harmless spiders disappeared and these appeared in their place. We suspect these spiders are resistant to the spray so they thrived once we eliminated their competitors. We stopped spraying after last summer and we had far few Brown Widows this summer and fall. The best thing to do is just keep outdoor stuff clean, sweeping away webs and smashing any egg sacks you find. And, of course, wear gloves when moving the trash cans, outdoor furniture or bringing in wood.
-Monta
