Keeping Yourself Safe From Spiders In Washington D.C.
01/10/2022
Worried about spiders? Follow these tips to stay safe. ...
READ MORE >
Spiders bring up a lot of different feelings in people. For some, they instigate a fear so big, it’s been given its own name. For others, they may not love them, but they’re not afraid to smack the ones they see in their house. And for others still, the thought of hurting one of these helpful creatures is a terrible tragedy. Wherever you fall along the spectrum, you’d probably agree that suddenly seeing a lot of spiders in your Maryland home is a cause for concern. If spiders seem to have taken over your house, here’s what you need to know.
What Is A Common House Spider?
Common house spiders get their name simply because they are the spider most commonly found in homes. They are small in size, generally around the size of an apple seed or smaller. Females have spherical abdomens, while males have more of an oval-shaped abdomen. The color of these spiders varies widely from spider to spider, from gray to brown to yellow to off-white, with a variety of markings as well. Like all arachnids, house spiders have eight paired legs. They also have eight eyes.
Are House Spiders Dangerous?
All spiders are venomous, and house spiders are no exception. House spiders have fangs because they are needed in order to bite and inject venom into their prey. This paralyzes or kills the prey before the house spider eats it. Although this sounds scary, these house spiders are not harmful to most humans.
For the vast majority of humans, house spider bites will not cause any major reaction. Their venom cannot be injected into a human in a large enough or potent enough amount to cause any real harm. You may have a bit of pain at the location of the bite, but it won’t be anything out of the ordinary. Some people may have a more sensitive reaction with swelling or a bit more pain than normal, but even that shouldn’t turn into anything to be overly concerned about.
Beyond potential health problems from house spider venom or bites, you may wonder if they cause any other problems, such as damage to your home. The good news is that they don’t damage your house beyond covering it in annoying spider webs. House spiders are considered a nuisance pest. The bad news is that if you frequently find them in your home, they may be there because another pest has invaded your house. House spiders need a food source and oftentimes, when you have a spider infestation, it signals that another pest infestation is also present. Depending on what other pest has infested your house, they could cause a damage to your home or introduce harmful bacteria that may cause a variety of unwanted illnesses.
Where Do House Spiders Hide?
House spiders prefer to stay out of the way. They spend most of their time in basements, garages, crawl spaces, and attics. When they’re in the main part of your house, you’re likely to see them in the corners of walls, ceilings, windows, and under furniture.
Oftentimes, instead of seeing the spiders themselves, you’ll see signs of their presence in the webs they leave behind. House spiders are known for quickly building tangled webs. If a spider web doesn’t yield the results the spider needs by capturing food, they’ll abandon the web and build a new one in another location. Finding webs all over your house is a sign that house spiders are present.
If you do start seeing more house spiders than usual, it can be a sign that they are outgrowing their current habitat. A female house spider can lay about 250 eggs in a sac at a time, and more than one egg sac can be in a web at one time. These eggs take about a week to hatch. In her lifetime, a female spider can produce up to 17 sacs of eggs. If you consider how many of the eggs contain female spiders and how they’ll start producing egg sacs once they reach maturity, it quickly becomes apparent how even the smallest house spider infestation can quickly become out of control. If you’ve been wondering why there are so many spiders in your Maryland home, this is why.
How Can I Prevent House Spiders?
Whether you’ve been seeing a lot of house spiders in your Maryland home or not, you probably have questions about how you can prevent them from getting inside. There are several steps you can take to avoid a house spider infestation.
First, you want to make your home difficult to get into. Since spiders are so small, it would be next to impossible to seal every possible entry point. However, you can eliminate as many of them as possible, making it much more difficult for spiders to find their way inside your Maryland home.
Do an inspection around the outside of your house, looking for any holes, gaps, or cracks in the siding, foundation, doors, and windows. Make a list of the defects that you find so that when you go to fix them, you don’t miss any. Fill all of the holes, cracks, and gaps with a caulking compound.
Check all of your doors and windows for tears or holes in any screens. Repair or replace any screens that have damage. Similarly, if you have any window panes with damage, repair or replace those as well.
If you have trees or shrubbery that touch the sides or roof of your house, it’s wise to take the time to trim them. Although they are not the direct cause of spiders getting into your house, they do act as a bridge. Any spider that is on the tree that touches your house can easily get onto the side or roof of your house, which makes it that much easier for the spider to start crawling around looking for a way inside.
Inside your house, you can remove any spiders that you find by vacuuming them, their webs, and their egg sacs. You’ll want to change the bag or empty the vacuum immediately afterward to prevent the spiders from getting back into your home. Although this is a good method for getting rid of a spider here and there, if you start seeing a lot of spiders, this will not eliminate a large spider infestation.
If you do start seeing a lot of spiders in your Maryland home, it’s vital that you consider the possibility of another pest infestation. Having a lot of spiders in your house means that the spiders are finding a regular food supply. Since spiders eat insects, that means that there are insects in your house. If there are enough insects to feed a large spider population, it means that there’s a large insect population in your house as well.
Where Can I Go For Help?
Finding a spider or two in your home every now and then is nothing to be alarmed about. In fact, it would probably be a little odd to never find a spider in your house. On the other hand, if you start finding spiders in your house frequently or start seeing webs all over the place, it is definitely a cause for concern.
Although you can eliminate spiders as you see them, if the population grows too big, you’ll need help getting your spider infestation under control. You’ll also need help if it turns out that all the spiders you see in your house are a result of another pest infestation in your home.
If either of these becomes a real scenario in your Maryland home, you need the help of a professional pest control company. American Pest is Maryland’s best choice for pest control. Founded in 1925, we have nearly 100 years of experience eliminating pest problems in Maryland homes. Our EPA-approved products are tough on pest infestations, but safe for your family. And with our A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, you know you’ll receive the top notch service you expect and deserve.
When spiders become a problem in your house, contact American Pest. We’ll schedule an inspection of your home and recommend the best course of action to get your house back to the spider-free and pest-free haven you enjoy. American Pest is here to help. Call us today!
