Spider Wars In Longview: How To Win The Battle Against Arachnids

There are many ways spiders can creep up on you. They hide in boxes and crates in your storage shed, waiting for you to open them up so they can scare you half out of your mind. They sit on your bath mat in the exact spot you're going to put your foot down when you get out of the shower. They zip across the rug, heading straight for you while you watch television—or, better yet, zip up the wall behind the television. The worst way spiders reveal themselves is when they bite. Today, we're going to look at the habits and behavior patterns of common spiders in Longview. We'll examine factors that attract them to your property and share with you five naturally effective spider prevention tips that are just crazy enough to work. If you want to know how a licensed pest management professional can keep spiders out of your home, stick with us to the end. But if you want to speak directly with a pest management professional and learn about spider pest control in Longview, why not give us a call? We're here to help

We have quite a few spiders native to Longview. Each is unique in its own way. Rather than talk about each spider, it is best to look at their habits and behavior patterns. If you want to keep spiders out of your home, it helps to know these basic facts.

Spiders Are Predators: What does this mean? It means that they hunt for food around and inside your home. If food is limited, guess what happens? The spiders move to better hunting grounds. So, the first step in managing spiders is to consider what spiders eat. Spiders eat insects, multi-legged bugs, other spiders, and small animals. If you have a pest problem, it won't be long until you have a spider problem. Considering ways to naturally deter the pests spiders eat will help you reduce spider activity.

Spiders Make Webs: We're sure you've seen them. Spider webs are unsightly and annoying. They're also one of the sources of a spider infestation. Do you know that some spiders create egg sacs in their webs and that an egg sac can have as many as three hundred eggs in it? Sure, all of the spiders that hatch are not viable, but that is a lot of spiders. If you don't address spider webs early, your spider problems can increase quickly. Web removal is also an essential part of a spider control strategy.  

Some Spiders Don't Build Webs: There are certain spiders that hide in ground holes, hunt their prey with excellent vision, and stalk around inside your home at night. When battling spiders, you don't want to forget ground spiders. While they are typically outdoor spiders, they will get into your home if entry points are available.

Some Spiders Are Tiny: We have many common household spiders that aren't much larger than a pea. Spiderlings are even smaller. When working to keep spiders out of your home, pest-proofing alone may not provide a complete seal. Keep this in mind.  

These are the habits and behaviors to consider when battling spiders around or inside your Longview home.

Factors That Attract Spiders Inside

Using what we've discussed so far, and adding to it, let's look at the factors that attract spiders. We'll break these down into two parts. We'll start with attractants that increase the number of spiders around your home. (The more spiders you have outside, the more likely you are to see spiders indoors.) Then, we'll look at what makes spiders want to live with you. Here's what you need to know in order to keep spiders away.  

Outdoor Spider Attractants: Consider your yard the way a spider might consider it. Spiders aren't looking for the amenities you look for. Here are some things a spider wants to find in your yard.

• Lots of insects and bugs to eat
• Dirty surfaces on which to create webs
• Tall grass
• Objects to hide in
• Dense vegetation
• Perimeter moisture
• Landscape moisture
• Holes to hide in
• A mate

If you can remove these attractants in meaningful ways, you can deter spiders from living near your home. When spiders are not crawling on your home, you won't have them climbing in.

Indoor Spider Attractants: Consider your yard as a habitat for spiders. When spiders find their way into your wall voids and crawl around in your common areas while you sleep, here are a few things they hope to find.

• Lots of insects and bugs to eat
• Dirty surfaces on which to create webs
• Clutter to hide in
• High humidity
• Plumbing issues
• Cracks, gaps, and holes
• A mate

Now that you know what attracts spiders, let's shift our attention to taking what we've discussed and applying it to spider prevention. These five naturally effective spider prevention tips are multi-faceted and they go beyond what we will share today.

Five Naturally Effective Spider Prevention Tips

We've covered a lot of ground and set the foundation for effective prevention. If you don't mind rolling your sleeves up, these five naturally effective spider prevention tips can prevent common household spiders, and also super scary spiders, like black widows and brown recluse, from entering your home.

1. Remove Spiders' Harborage

Spiders hide in many things. They'll get into a toy, yard equipment, a swing set, campfire wood, and more. Along with removing the clutter spiders hide inside, it is critical to also remove their homes. When you get rid of spider webs and crush any egg sacs you find, you'll reduce the population of spiders around your home.

2. Reduce Insects

We have quite a variety of insects that live in our yards. Each is different. These tips are not comprehensive. They're only a starting point. 

• Spiders eat houseflies. Houseflies are drawn to open trash cans and the scent of decaying organic matter. Proper trash management is essential.
• Spiders eat flying insects. Most flying insects are attracted to light. Installing lights that only come on when motion is detected will significantly deter flying insects—you'll also reduce many crawling and hopping insects as well.
• Spiders eat crawling insects. Many crawling insects eat nectar and honeydew. Controlling weeds can reduce sources of nectar. Maintaining healthy landscape plants can deter aphids, which create honeydew.

Do you see how it works? Remove the attractants that bring insects onto your property, and you'll deter spiders too.

3. Reduce Bugs

We have many bugs that are not considered insects, such as ticks, millipedes, centipedes, spiders, etc. Many of these bugs are strongly impacted by damp conditions and organic debris. Here are a few quick suggestions to reduce the conditions that attract them:

• Patch gutter breaks and fix any downspouts that are broken.
• Trim bushes, shrubs, and plants in your landscaping.
• Remove unwanted grass and pesky weeds in your landscaping.
• Water your plants in the morning.
• Rake leaves and remove sticks.

Everything you do to control moisture will have an impact on bug populations and plant health. It is well worth it to roll your sleeves up and do this hard work.

4. Eliminate Entry Points

Good old-fashioned home repairs and weather-proofing can stop spiders in their tracks. If you have the skills and the muscle, you can exclude spiders from your home with physical barriers. Here are some examples.

• Pull the weatherstripping off exterior doors and replace it. A good seal around your doors is critical.
• Check your door sweeps. If you see light leaking in, spiders can get in. Replace those sweeps.
• Check your utilities. If you have gaps around plumbing or PVC pipes, spiders will use them. Expanding foam can seal these areas.
• Check around window and door frames. Use a caulking gun to create a seal in areas where needed.
• Check your screens. Pull them off and get them rescreened, or simply patch the holes.
• Check the wood of your home for gaps or holes. Expanding foam can fill holes quickly and easily until you have the money to replace the wood or fix the gaps.
• Check all of your vents. Make sure they have covers.

Build off these examples to seal your exterior. Keep in mind that no entry point is too small. 

5. Keep Your Home Clean

Pests that get into your home will eat your food, decaying food in your trash, pet food, dust, cardboard, skins, hair, and more. A clean home is resistant to pest activity. If you deter general household pests, you'll make your home less interesting to spiders. Remember when we talked about hundreds of baby spiders hatching from their eggs? If those spiders can't find a bite to eat, they'll die off. That is an all-natural way to stunt spider populations and deter infestations.

We're not going to kid you. It takes effort to manage pests. It can feel like a part-time job. On top of this, spiders and other pests may find tiny entry points you failed to seal. An easy solution that provides the best protection is a quality pest control plan.

Quality Pest Control Makes The Best Spider Control

There are many ways a quality home pest control plan helps you keep spiders out of your yard and out of your home. At first, it works to reduce the food source spiders are seeking on your property. Routine visit from a licensed technician will also provide you with insights about your yard and exterior, so you may make alterations. But, whether you make alterations or not, your technician can help you reduce spiders and keep pests out of your home by routinely removing spider webs and by applying a crack and crevice treatment to your exterior.