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daisy
9-22-11, 3:10pm
We are about a month and a half away from having our new house in move-in condition (yay! :cool:) We have been living here, in a garage apartment, for the last 5 years and we've had a couple of recurrent pest problems that I would rather not bring into the new house. The first is scorpions. The ones here are small and non-lethal, but we've both been stung by them (and so have our dogs) and they're just plain creepy. The other pest is brown recluse spiders, which we've seen quite a few of this year.

Normally I stay away from chemical controls as much as possible, but I don't really care for the idea of being bitten by a brown recluse. I'm afraid that when we start bringing the boxes down from the garage attic, we're just going to carry the spiders or their eggs into the house.

Are there any relatively safe products that can be used to give us some protection against these things?

JaneV2.0
9-22-11, 3:56pm
You might look into Cedarcide or other cedar oil based products.

I was just talking to a friend about this today--after Angie's List sent me news of a real deal on some kind of spider armageddon service. Neither of us could figure it out, as we both either ignore spiders in our houses or pick them up and take them outside. I can't imagine a situation where poison spray would be the best solution for me.

chanterelle
9-22-11, 4:31pm
My sister has permanent nerve damage in her arm and neck and partial loss of hand function due to a brown recluse bite..they are nothing to trifle with. I would seek out a pest service experienced with their eradication to make sure that they are not brought into the new house.

daisy
9-22-11, 7:12pm
JaneV2.0,

We also put the normal spiders outside, but brown recluses can cause some serious wounds and we've seen many here. They are scavenger spiders, so there is no web to warn you away. Most people are bitten in their sleep or when they pull something out of a box or closet. So far we haven't been bitten, but my nephew was bitten and lost a significant portion of his leg. It eventually healed, but he has a permanent disfigurement.

Chantarelle, that is so awful about your sister. I think we may have to go the professional route. I was just hoping someone already knew what to use or to ask for.

chanterelle
9-22-11, 7:21pm
Daisy, my sister was bitten reaching onto a top shelf in a storage cabinet just as you mentioned.
Her injury was a number of years ago before there were less toxic alternatives. There may be something now that a pest control service could tell you about. I hope that you find something ...I know what a worry this is for you.

JaneV2.0
9-22-11, 8:25pm
I have heard there are more brown recluses around here than there used to be and Googling PNW spiders turned up a few venomous ones. I might be able to identify a black widow ("Excuse me, could you roll over?") , but I've never seen one. Otherwise, all the venomous ones look alike to me.

So far, all my spider bites (I assume that's what they were) have been minor nuisances. Maybe I should invest in a bed net.

Funny, I never associate pest control services with "less toxic." Less toxic than what--Plutonium? :help: Perhaps I misjudge...

daisy
9-22-11, 8:57pm
Funny, I never associate pest control services with "less toxic." Less toxic than what--Plutonium? :help: Perhaps I misjudge...

Well, I would consider the pyrethrin based pesticides a lot less toxic than the organophosphates. Normally I don't use anything, but we've seen about 15 brown recluses this year and since they can live over 2 years, I would like to eradicate them before someone (or one of the pets) ends up with a serious wound.

JaneV2.0
9-22-11, 9:23pm
I'm loving this subject. It turns out we really don't have brown recluses here--at least according to Wikipedia (I know). Bites attributed to them in the PNW are now thought to be due to Hobo spiders. Deaths from spider bite are beyond rare, as are necrotic sequelae. So I guess I can hold off on that bed net for now. Maybe if I were knee-deep in brown recluses, I'd feel differently. !pow!!pow!



http://www.marion.ohio-state.edu/spiderweb/spider%20bites.htm

JaneV2.0
9-22-11, 9:41pm
And OK, that bit about plutonium was just a bit hyperbolic, but I wouldn't trust most pest control companies to do the right thing when it comes to toxic sprays. There's some information here about pyrethrums and their adjuvants that's pretty interesting.
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Dangers-of-Pyrethrum_vq2490.htm

If I absolutely had to gas my living quarters, I'd likely go for cedar oil first.

Float On
9-22-11, 11:20pm
I didn't like 'warfare against bugs' but, we've got lots of brown recluse and the boys just don't get the 'don't pile clothes on the floor of your closet rule'. The upstairs has attic storage down both sides - that have vents and easy access for critters. I keep glue traps out in the attics all the time and always have 20 or so stuck to each one. We have our bug guy come twice a year and he uses a spray and then a bomb that is specific to brown recluse. We stay away from home on those days for 5 hours and never smell anything chemically when we return. It helps a lot. We also have the small scorpions. It takes a lot to kill one of those, I kept one in the bottom of a vase for months and it was still alive when I finally got tired of seeing how long it would last.
I've seen one black widow in one of our front flower gardens. Actually my son was maybe 4 and came in from playing to tell me there was a black widow spider and I should go see it. I think at 4 he knew every non-poisonous and poisonous spider and snake in our state thanks to our conservation magazines and their website.

daisy
9-23-11, 10:30am
JaneV2.0 wrote:

I'm loving this subject. It turns out we really don't have brown recluses here--at least according to Wikipedia (I know). Bites attributed to them in the PNW are now thought to be due to Hobo spiders. Deaths from spider bite are beyond rare, as are necrotic sequelae. So I guess I can hold off on that bed net for now. Maybe if I were knee-deep in brown recluses, I'd feel differently.

My parents moved here (east Texas) from North Dakota, where the scariest thing around was the garter snake. The very first night they were here, a 6' long king snake came in through the open window. They aren't venomous, but my mom wanted to pack up and go home! :0!

daisy
9-23-11, 10:40am
I didn't like 'warfare against bugs' but, we've got lots of brown recluse and the boys just don't get the 'don't pile clothes on the floor of your closet rule'. The upstairs has attic storage down both sides - that have vents and easy access for critters. I keep glue traps out in the attics all the time and always have 20 or so stuck to each one. We have our bug guy come twice a year and he uses a spray and then a bomb that is specific to brown recluse. We stay away from home on those days for 5 hours and never smell anything chemically when we return. It helps a lot. We also have the small scorpions. It takes a lot to kill one of those, I kept one in the bottom of a vase for months and it was still alive when I finally got tired of seeing how long it would last.
I've seen one black widow in one of our front flower gardens. Actually my son was maybe 4 and came in from playing to tell me there was a black widow spider and I should go see it. I think at 4 he knew every non-poisonous and poisonous spider and snake in our state thanks to our conservation magazines and their website.

Ugh. That's what I am trying to prevent. I tried putting out some sticky traps, but I never seemed to find the right place. Do you put yours along the walls?

While they are annoying, the scorpions don't bother me as much as the spiders. DH, on the other hand, holds a grudge. I mentioned one night that I never leave clothes on the floor because I don't want a scorpion or spider to get in them. The next morning DH picked his jeans up off the floor, put them on and was stung by a scorpion... in an area no man would like to be stung!

treehugger
9-23-11, 11:49am
When we first discovered that black widows frequently turn up in our garage, I was really freaked out. Reading about them and their habits calmed me down (they stay in the corners and shadows, pretty much only biting humans when humans disturb them, etc.) but I still don't enjoy seeing them. They are the only spiders that I will kill. We never go barefoot into the garage and put on gardening gloves when we have to reach for something on a shelf or in a box.

I understand brown recluses are more dangerous though, coming into human spaces more regularly (so far, we've never encountered a black widow in the house). That would make me nervous. But I agree that it's a good idea to research all options and pick the one that does the least harm to other species (humans, pets, even beneficial insects).

Good luck!

Kara

Float On
9-23-11, 12:33pm
Daisy, I put the glue traps along the floor infront of the access doors since I'm trying to keep them from coming into the main rooms. They usually go as close to the walls as possible since they are 'reclusive' they don't like being out in the open.

JaneV2.0
9-23-11, 1:54pm
If I had to choose between killing insects quickly with some kind of inhalant and torturing them to death with sticky traps, I'd go for the gas, personally. I'm glad I live where I don't have to make those decisions. Another reason to love the PNW.

Marianne
9-25-11, 8:28am
DE or Diatomaceous Earth (found in the garden area of stores) is a talcum powder looking type stuff that will kill any crawling bug or spider that goes across it. It scratches the outside of said critter, and the bug/spider will dehydrate and die in a couple days. Non toxic, great stuff. But it's ineffective when it gets wet. I'd sprinkle some in every box if possible. It's easily washed out of clothes, vacuums out of nooks and crannies, carpets, etc. (Some people have an allergic reaction to it if it's left on carpets, but I understand that's rare.)

Don't know about the scorpions, though. Eeek. I'd keep a big, rubber mallet handy for them.