For homeowners, ensuring your home is clean, presentable and comfortable is always a top priority. You definitely don’t want to have to share your space with uninvited, multiple-eyed, eight-legged guests but unfortunately, it can happen to even the most particular homeowners. However, armed with the right knowledge, you can be sure that your home is kept free of spiders and other unwanted pests.
Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders or arachnids and for some people, it can be quite serious. Although, if we’re perfectly honest, most of us don’t like the sight of even one eight-legged visitor and if we know there’s a spider creeping around the bedroom but can’t see it, it’s even worse. So what can you do if you have an infestation of these hideous creepy crawlies and it’s making your skin crawl? How do you get rid of them and how do you keep them out of your living space?
Continue reading to find out what to do if you realise that you have a spider infestation.
Do You Have A Problem?
So you notice one or two spiders that made a new web somewhere in your basement. This can be expected and mostly they are harmless. They help us by getting rid of other pests like mosquitos and flies. But when their presence prevents you from enjoying your afternoon nap by running over your forehead or you can’t walk anywhere in your house without accidentally stepping on a spider, it is time to call a pest controller in Melbourne.
What Types Are There?
Firstly it must be determined what species of spider it is. Some spiders are completely harmless while others are extremely poisonous. It would be easier to rule out the latter because there are fewer species that poses a life or death situation if you are confronted with a spider problem. Most of the 10,000 spider species in Australia are not venomous.
However, the top 10 dangerous ones to look out for are: the Sydney Funnel-web spider, the Redback spider, the Mouse spider, the Trap-door spider, the White-tailed spider, the Tarantula, the Recluse spider, the Huntsman, and the Common garden orb weaver spider. If you can take a picture of it and do an internet search you would be able to identify it easily. In case you got bitten by a spider it will also help if you have a picture of the spider with you at the emergency room. It is only the Sydney Funnel-web and Redback spiders that pose a life threat.
How Do You Get Rid Of Them?
It is not advisable to spray poison yourself because you will be exposing yourself and your family to harmful chemicals. Rather leave this to the professionals and get hold of a pest control company. If you are not too squeamish and there are only one or a few spiders you can capture them with a glass jar and a sheet of thin cardboard. Just place the glass jar over the spider and slide the cardboard sheet between the floor and jar. Then you can release the spider in the furthest corner of your property, or if you identified it to be very poisonous, you can keep it in the jar and contact your local pest control or the Australian reptile park.
How Do You Avoid A Future Infestation?
There are a lot of things you can do to prevent spiders from invading your home.
Firstly, get rid of clutter in areas you don’t use often like the basement and the attic. Give these places a regular clean, spiders will be discouraged if their cobwebs are removed regularly. Look for openings and cracks where the spiders can enter these areas and close the holes up. If there are broken windows, fix them. Air vents can be covered with a fine sieve or mesh.
Other areas to inspect are your crawlspaces as well as behind and underneath appliances and furniture. Install a screen door and screens on all your windows. Spiders like to feast on other bugs so if your home is free of other insects, spiders will also reside elsewhere.
Spiders Are Scared Of Us
If you ever encounter a spider in your car, do not try to catch it while you are driving. Rather, put your hazards on, pull off the road, get out of the car, open all the doors and catch and release it. Here is something to remember if you ever see a spider and you get the heebie-jeebies. Most spider species are not poisonous or aggressive. They are more scared of you than you are of it.
