Most spiders are harmless. The biggest threat they pose is startling us as they scurry across the floor.

Most don’t have venom strong enough to cause harm or fangs strong enough to puncture our skin.

HOWEVER, there are two species in Louisiana that are dangerous: the black widow and brown recluse. You should always avoid them, because their venom is potent enough to affect your health.

They aren’t aggressive, but when disturbed or feeling threatened, they will bite to protect themselves. Spiders live in dark, hard-to-navigate areas, so bites often occur when:

• Placing your hand on something a spider is resting on.

• Putting on a piece of clothing with a hidden spider.

• Digging through gardens or storage boxes where a spider is resting.

Many factors render spiders difficult to treat. They make very light contact with treated surfaces, tiptoeing quickly across them to avoid absorbing a lethal dose. Spiders’ sensory organs allow them to detect minute amounts of repellent products on treated surfaces, and they quickly learn to avoid these areas. Passive hunters remain in their webs, away from treated surfaces. Treatments often must be applied directly to passive hunters and their egg sacks. Removing cobwebs before pesticide application can actually allow spiders and egg sacks to escape treatment and avoid contact with pesticides.

Text WOLF Pest Control if you need help.

In the yard. Spiders like to live in our gardens, near trash cans, around exterior light fixtures, and on the exterior of our homes. These are all places that insects (their primary food source) hang out.

If food becomes scarce outside or spiders are looking for a safe place to lay their eggs, they move into homes or other structures.  Their favorite hideouts are in dark, quiet areas, such as closets, basements, attics, windowsills, and spaces under furniture.

Many factors render spiders difficult to control. 
That’s why W.O.L.F. Pest Control offers customized services that will eliminate both dangerous and nuisance spiders from your home and stop them from returning. Our family-owned and operated company will protect your family and property from spider problems, whether you need Residential or Commercial Pest Control.

Here are a few prevention tips to help you defend your yard and home against spider infestations:

• Make your home uninviting to the insects that spiders like to feed on. Keep lids on trash cans, remove brush and leaf piles, and turn off exterior lights when not needed.

• Seal openings around exterior lights, in exterior walls, and around windows and doors to keep insects and spiders out of your home.

• Cut shrubs, bushes, and other vegetation back away from your home to stop spiders from burrowing or building webs against your house.

• Inside, eliminate the clutter that spiders like to hide in.

• Regularly vacuum and dust your home, paying particular attention to spaces under furniture, around windows, and the corners of rooms.

Spiders like to live outside, and almost any outdoor space could become home to these leggy creatures. Wooded areas, parks, meadows, fields, and vegetation next to bodies of water are home to large populations of spiders. Spiders have also adapted to living in more urban areas using the grass, gardens, and vegetation in our yards to live and hunt for prey.

Spiders are predators, which means they hunt other living creatures. The more food (insects) you have available for them, the more likely they will take up permanent residency on your property!