It’s rare to find a homeowner who hasn’t found a spider or two in their home over the years. These common visitors give some people the willies just thinking about them. Others don’t really mind the arachnids, which prey on other insects.
No matter which camp you fall in, there are a few things you should know about spiders here in Colorado and how to deal with them in your home. Read on for some interesting facts and tidbits about these eight-legged creatures.
Spiders come in all shapes and sizes. Some are venomous. Most are not. Some live for a short amount of time, others can live for years. Tarantulas, for example, one of the most well-known members of the spider family, can live for up to a decade, which is one reason they are used in educational settings so frequently.
All spiders hatch from eggs. The females lay eggs in clusters or in some cases she may carry them in an egg pouch or sac until they hatch. Egg laying generally takes place in the spring and fall and when the young spiders hatch, they erupt out of their egg sac and take off on their own. Not surprisingly, spring and fall are the times of year when we are most likely to encounter spiders in our home. The spiders have probably come inside to seek shelter from the cooler temperatures and while there, the eggs happen to hatch, inundating your home with the little arachnids.
This make spring and fall the ideal times to treat the home for spiders, though homes can be treated year-round.
Spiders love dark places that shelter them from the elements. Wooded areas, backyard wood piles, rock piles and mulch are all popular spider hangouts. Any debris outside the home can attract spiders looking for shelter, as can shrubs and undisturbed land. Keeping these things away from the foundation of the home may help prevent spiders from getting too close to the house and coming in, but it’s not a guarantee.
Identifying spiders in your home will help you understand their life cycle and determine whether or not these visitors can remain unbothered in the house or if they need to be removed. In general, however, if you’ve begun to notice spiders in your home, chances are good that you’ve already got an infestation and treatment may be necessary to get the population under control.
The most common spiders in Colorado are:
It is extremely rare for a person to be bit by a spider. The vast majority of spiders will not attack unless they are provoked. Most that do attack are female and they are most likely to attack if their web is disturbed. Unfortunately, most insect bites are misdiagnosed and spiders get blamed as the biter. The brown recluse spider is commonly blamed for bites but this spider is extremely rare in Colorado. There are ten different types of recluse spiders in the state and funnel spiders are commonly mistaken for the brown recluse due to their coloration.
The decision about how and when to treat your home for spiders is highly personal. Some people cannot stand the thought of spiders lurking in their home and will seek treatment after seeing just one spider. Other people don’t mind spiders and are happy to let them be.
There are times that you should have your home treated by a professional exterminator, however. If you have a spider infestation and you have small children in the home, get it treated! Although spider bites are small and don’t usually cause much more than a bump or some itchiness, children have weaker immune systems than adults and the toxins released by the spider can have a much more serious effect on their nervous systems. One bite may not cause a problem, but several bites could.
When an exterminator treats a home for spiders, they use a broad-spectrum pesticide, which will kill anything that crawls, not just spiders. Getting rid of the bugs takes some time since it requires the spider or insect to walk across the surface of the material. Once it does this, the pesticide is absorbed by the spider’s body and kills it. It’s important to understand that pesticides are not deterrents. There is no smell or taste to the product that will prevent spiders from entering the home.
The best way to deal with spiders is to prevent infestations before they occur with regular treatments. That way, once a spider does enter the home, it picks up the pesticide right away and dies before it can lay eggs or show up in the home’s living areas.
If you’re ever unsure about the spiders in your home, contact a pro. A professional exterminator can handle your spider problem for you or even just help you identify the spiders in your home, inform you if they are dangerous or not and make recommendations for dealing with them or living with them if that’s what you choose.