Venomous Things (home, living, yard)

[yank283]

With the warmer weather and milder climate down here, insects will always be a bigger problem. A pretty good trade off if you ask me.

[Carol McCullough]

We did have a brown recluse problem and we used the sticky trap and flyswatter method to deal with it successfully. It was limited to just one area of our house (the upstairs bathroom) so we were vigilant about not leaving clothes on the floor and keeping an eye out near the walls and in the corners whenever we entered the room. The problem lasted for a few months until I killed a particularly large one that I guessed (no expertise here) was the female. There were a few stragglers after that, but we haven't had a problem in years.

I did have to tell my then toddler son to stay out of the room or in the tub from time to time until it was dealt with. We never had any bites or close calls, though. The truth is, they are not aggressive at all and tend to try to run away or hide in plain sight near the baseboards when humans are around. They just creeped me out, so they had to go.

I would not be inclined to use sprays unless I knew I had a problem and it didn't seem resolveable otherwise. But that's just me.

[jbmill3]

Okay, so far about half the respondents either have or have had problems with recluses. That is not at all reassuring, even if most of you say it's "no big deal". I understand they're not very aggressive. But my wife is scared enough of spiders in the house as it is, and we don't have any here that are even remotely dangerous. If we had potentially lethal little critters running around... I don't even want to think about her reaction.

Maybe instead of moving South to Nashville we should head North to someplace like Nova Scotia. No nasty bugs there...

[alleycat]

Well, if spiders are a deal killer for your wife, then yes, it probably would be better to search somewhere else rather than the south.

Good luck with whatever area you end up choosing.

[jbmill3]

That comment was mostly a joke, alleycat. We're definitely moving to Nashville. Hopefully we will not be killed and eaten by spiders in our sleep.

[GoGreenNashville]

Ahhhhh... Someone else who get's a kick out of the critter fear around here. I honestly think most assume if they see a spider in their basement that it's a brown recluse and if there's a snake in the water, it's a cotton mouth. In my 19 years in TN, I have only known 1 person who was bit by a recluse. No snake bites ever. i live in an older home with a basement and we have lots of spiders. We don't spray and Iv'e never seen a bad one. My kids run in our yard with abandon with ticks and mosquitos being my big worry. If you really want to see Nashville in a tizzy wait until we get a snow prediction. The grocerys sell out of milk like armageddon is coming.

[themudpuppy]

Although I've been bitten twice by confirmed brown recluse spiders in Nashville, I'm way more afraid of the critters I will probably encounter when I move to the southwest.

[IngleDave]

The brown recluse is a different looking creature than most spiders. It has a very thin body often with the abdomen being a light color and the head/thorax a darker color. Long thin legs. Unless you have really good eyesight and are very close, you might not be able to see the fiddle shape on it's back. Most spiders have two pairs of eyes, the brown recluse has three. Again, you need to be close enough. I put one in a jar so I could show them to people as most spiders are beneficial, but still creep people out. The recluse feeds on small insects so if your house is treated and the food is gone, so will they be as well.

The best things to do if you think you might have a problem, or just want to know is to buy the glue traps and set a few around. Date them and look at them from time to time. Place them around the baseboards and in closets and away from cats and pets as they tend to be curious and get stuck. Mine did and you just have to yank the thing off the fur. Ouch.

The info our folks are giving is good, but websites devoted to brown recluse spiders are very good. My suggestion is to look it up. Photos are worth many words. And certainly, don't overreact. I may sound tough, but, yeah, they do creep me out, too.

[bran_smith]

I moved from Ky, soo I have never seen a br where I came from. HereI havent seen any br here neihter in the apt i lived in (which other claimed they had seen them) or in the house we have, which is good thing I hate spiders and I freak when I see one..LOL tho I have seen black spiders that jump or atleast this one did, it jumped from our counter in the kitchen to the floor..
I do some house cepides(sp) tho here...I have never seen them before but I had read that they are good bc they eat your bugs that comes into your house...They are still freaky looking...LOL
as for snakes, I havent seen any but I live in a subdivision to
I know that the daddy long legs spiders are posionous but they cant bite humans, teeth are too soft or something but they are good to have, bc they kill all the bug and spiders as well

[kamoshika]

Originally Posted by bran_smith

tho I have seen black spiders that jump or atleast this one did, it jumped from our counter in the kitchen to the floor..
I do some house cepides(sp) tho here...I have never seen them before but I had read that they are good bc they eat your bugs that comes into your house...They are still freaky looking...LOL
as for snakes, I havent seen any but I live in a subdivision to
I know that the daddy long legs spiders are posionous but they cant bite humans, teeth are too soft or something but they are good to have, bc they kill all the bug and spiders as well

Jumping spiders are neat little critters and perfectly harmless. Some are brilliantly colored.

Daddy longlegs (harvestmen) are arachnids but they're not spiders. They pose no danger whatsoever to humans as they lack both venom and fangs.

House centipedes may unnerve some folks due to their size, speed, and nocturnal hunting habits, but they're very beneficial as they prey on many household pests like earwigs, silverfish, and cockroaches. Interestingly, they're also quite long-lived (up to six years) so feel free to name yours.



RE: brown recluses, they should never be mistaken for wolf spiders.

Brown recluse:



Wolf spider; there are many species but most look similar to this one:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e5/Wolf_Spider_in_Grass.jpg/672px-Wolf_Spider_in_Grass.jpg (broken link)