SPIDERS in Clovis How do I get rid of them and keep them out? (Las Cruces: house, water heater)

[Phiasmom0]

We live in Clovis NM and we have mainly 3 or so kinds here in the house but how do we get rid of them and keep them out of the house? My daughter (about to be 2yrs old) was in her room and screamed saying pider (spider) bit her. It has been a few day and she is fine but we still have a spider issue. I was bitten by a brown recluse several years ago with the scars to prove it. So you can imagine my lack of love for the creatures in my house.

We have these hearty looking grayish ones grand daddy long legs and a smallish type with a red almost see through body that are quick.

Help please! Also are these poisonous? My DH asked what poisonous things we need to watch for and the housing briefing lady said she didn't know.

Thanks for all your help

[highdesertmutz]

Originally Posted by Phiasmom0

We live in Clovis NM and we have mainly 3 or so kinds here in the house but how do we get rid of them and keep them out of the house? My daughter (about to be 2yrs old) was in her room and screamed saying pider (spider) bit her. It has been a few day and she is fine but we still have a spider issue. I was bitten by a brown recluse several years ago with the scars to prove it. So you can imagine my lack of love for the creatures in my house.

We have these hearty looking grayish ones grand daddy long legs and a smallish type with a red almost see through body that are quick.

Help please! Also are these poisonous? My DH asked what poisonous things we need to watch for and the housing briefing lady said she didn't know.

Thanks for all your help

You're going to have to get yourself a powerful vacuum, and use it often.
here's a link to a website that's all about spiders. it includes information about their habitat (where they like to hang out) and certain things your household can do to avoid spider bites.
The Official Brown Recluse Spider

[Pintada Kid]

Use Raid Spray the Ant and Roach for your Critters and spray the bottom of doors and vents and windows and places where they can hide. Outside spray around windows and vents and if you have plants or bushes next to your house they will have plenty of insects in them. Fix your Screen Doors because summer will be here and flies will be everywhere and when you spray inside your house be sure to leave for a Few hours and cover dishes and anything the spray might fall on. Dont fumigate to much around flames and dont breathe the fumes spray and get out. P.S. this will take care of Roaches and Ants too not just Spiders and other insects. Attics and Basements, Roof Edges. i use Those bomb sprays but they should be Sprayed too along with sheds or Outbuildings. KID TIP... The Black Widow is easy to Recognize but those Brown Recluse are very Dangerous also and hard to Recognize. Lets not even get to Scorpions but i think the Raid will take care of them too. KID TIP.. Pay No Mind to the Spider Lovers. el pintada kid

[highdesertmutz]

Originally Posted by Pintada Kid

Use Raid Spray the Ant and Roach for your Critters and spray the bottom of doors and vents and windows and places where they can hide. Outside spray around windows and vents and if you have plants or bushes next to your house they will have plenty of insects in them. Fix your Screen Doors because summer will be here and flies will be everywhere and when you spray inside your house be sure to leave for a Few hours and cover dishes and anything the spray might fall on. Dont fumigate to much around flames and dont breathe the fumes spray and get out. P.S. this will take care of Roaches and Ants too not just Spiders and other insects. Attics and Basements, Roof Edges. i use Those bomb sprays but they should be Sprayed too along with sheds or Outbuildings. KID TIP... The Black Widow is easy to Recognize but those Brown Recluse are very Dangerous also and hard to Recognize. Lets not even get to Scorpions but i think the Raid will take care of them too. KID TIP.. Pay No Mind to the Spider Lovers. el pintada kid

kid! you gotta go to the link I provided. one Dr. recommends NOT using insecticides, it affects spiders in an adverse way, they become immune to sprays! check it out!

[Steve-o]

Well, all spiders are venomous (not poisonous) first off. Secondly, the only one you really need to worry about are the desert recluse (Loxoceles reclusa) and the black widow (Latrodectus hesperus). The rest are basically harmless and beneficial to have around. Google the latin names of the spiders I just gave you and youll be able to find TONS of info on them. Spiders are beneficial to have around, like em or not. Get rid of spiders and youll have tons of other pests around that are worse than spiders (ie cockroaches, etc).

[linicx]

Been there, done that four times. NO cardboard boxes or paper sacks in the house. NOt even the carboard boses with soda in them. Put it ouside in a closed garbage can. Keep garbage out and all the waste baskets emptied every day.

Spiders like dark places. Get rid of webs. They like drawers and closets and shoes. Scorpions like boots. Shake shoes out before you put them on. Clothes, towels and washclothes too. Do not leave clothes on the floor or any food sitting out all night. Clip the chip bags. Do not leave standing water pr faicets that drip. They hide under sinks. They can crawl through anything open. They also love the cords of wood stacked next to the house. So do snakes.

Call a professional exterminator. Plan to be gone 8 hours. Six for the chemicals to work and two after the windows are opened and fans turned on. And by all means treat the foundation of the house and porches. I treat an araa three feet wide all around my house. If I had kids I would have a fenced area where they play and treat that too.

The last thing to understand is this: as long as you live in the sandy desert SW - and I have been in Clovis and Portales many times - you will treat your house professionally every 90 days. Most of the chemicals you can buy retail are a waste of money. The only people who can buy the chemicals to stop the problem are licensed. And they change chemicals as bugs evolve.

If your child is bit by a blrown reclues, the only treatment is a doctor. I have no scars, I lost no flesh, but the last bite left a qiarter size black area on my lower belly for almost a yaar. And vaccum your furniture every day too; remove the cushions. I sat on one. I had a spot on my tail bone that was sore for weeks.

There is nothing cheap about keeping pests at bay. I do it because after the last brown recluse bite, I developed a real allergy to all venum. It will kill me. I balance the cost of a professional against my life. It's an easy choise. The money is the hard part.

[Fischer_girl]

Sometimes we are only afraid of what we don't understand. I understand that many people are deathly afarid of spiders and I certainly appreciate the fact that I've never had that fear. However, I think it would be really interesting to learn about them! Other than on the web... does anyone know if there is any paper based literature about the spiders of the state? Not sure the library would offer anything good..I was only able to find one decent BIRD book let alone a spider one!
Also.. when is the "Santa Fe" spider season. By what others have said its so much warmer in S NM..when is their peak time here? Also.... saw someone in ABQ pulling a sprayer behind a truck through the city...is that for mosquitoes like we did in ND??..or something else?

[6 FOOT 3]

Originally Posted by Fischer_girl

By what others have said its so much warmer in S NM..when is their peak time here?

Here in So NM they are usually worse at least for my experience in the winter time as they come inside where it's warm as i've seen about 4 or 5 in my apt so far and never see any inside during the summer.

That being said i always encounter black widows living behind water heaters and gas fire furnaces when i work on them as i always have a good pair of thick leather gloves if i have to stick my hand behind one for some reason.

Actually i don't worry about spiders much as i wanted to an entomologist as a kid as i was fascinated by bees and also all the ants/ant mounds in the desert behind our house in Las Cruces so i would go to the library and read as much as i could about insects.

[yachtcare]

FWIW, here in SW Florida, where widows are abundant, particulary in our dry season, I spray certain areas of my customers boats, (and my shop, house, etc.) with a product called "web away". Works wonderful. It is a non toxic blend of herbs, etc. that has an adverse effect on the ability of the spider's silk to adhere to a surface. If they cant build a web, they dont stick around(pardon the pun). It will also kill any spider that gets directly sprayed with it.
I also use a product called "Cedar Cide". Basically a non toxic blend of cedar oil. Not particularly effective against spiders, but keeps everything else(spider's food source) away. Again, the spiders go looking for better hunting grounds. I'm sure you can find info on both on the web. HTH.
I'm not afraid to use the toxic stuff(it's cheaper) where appropriate. In a house with children, the non toxic controls might be a better fit.

[Pintada Kid]

Those Sprayers can be used by Ranchers on their cattle to keep flies off their back. el pintada kid