Brown Recluses

[Rowdy]

Boy, I wish these guys were an endangered species...

I have had to battle these spiders for ten years in my house.  I don't have any bugs (thanks to the spiders) or spiders in the house save for Brown Recluses.  In ten years, I can honestly say I have had less than 10 bugs in my home.  However, I have killed more Recluses than I can count.  When I first started treating the house, I had read that they can't be killed by fogging/fumigating.  

I tried my first fogging about six years ago.  I put 12 foggers in my home including the attic and garage.  Lo and behold, no more spiders until the following year.  This may have been due to cutting off their food supply or actually murdering the buggers. This year, I have seen more Brown Recluses in my home than several years combined.  The only thing different this year is some major construction in the field next to the neighborhood.  Other than that, there is nothing different.

It has gotten so bad that I and my wife were killing on the average one a day. All throughout the house, with no particular locale. They wound up in the bathtub alot and I believe this was due to our redoing the shower wall and the inside is exposed ie. 2x4s and insulation.  I went and bought 12 fumigators and 6 foggers.  They were both RAID products.  For the past few years, I have had good success with them.  I fogged last week and usually don't notice dead bugs afterwards.  When I was done and airing out the house, I saw one dead recluse but that was it.

Since then, I have seen two large ones and last night, my wife saw two babies crawling on the couch together. I can't figure this one out as I never see them again until the following year and yet here are four more within four days of fogging.  Has anyone else had this problem before?  It's a nightmare going to bed at night.  I check the sheets and I even check the darned toilet before using it.  It is starting to get old. I have laid down some glue boards by the bed along the baseboards and behind the couch where the air intake is for the furnace.  

I re-fogged the attic again with three fumigators since I had those left tonight. I'm at wits end.  I have a very clean home and everything is picked up. I would call a professional but don't know what more they would do except for using something more potent.

[inteller]

outline your beds with tea tree oil.  it stinks, but they hate it and wont crawl in your bed.  the smell will subside but the oil will still be there.  do this every month.

it is too late to bomb them now.  you have to bomb them in march when they are nesting and coming out of hibernation.  do this next year.

all you can do this year is mitigate them.  just use lots of tea tree oil in places you want to keep them out.  put a little dish of it in under sink cabinets and that will deter them.

[TheArtist]

Wow, all I can say is be very very careful.  It sounds like you are quite diligent and obviously know how dangerous they can be. Hopefully once that field is built on that may decrease some of them.  

I was bitten by what must have been a brown recluse when I went to visit my parents one time.  I stayed over and used a trundle bed, it must have been hiding in there. I woke up with a strange sore above my ankle. It didn't really hurt but it looked as if someone had taken acid and gouged out a hole a bit larger than nickel. That venom must be potent stuff. I didn't think much of it but then as the day wore on my ankle started to swell... and swell, then later even bending my knee became almost impossible to do and started to hurt, and a strange numbness kept working its way up my leg.  Guess its a stupid guy thing but I kept thinking oh, it will get better, no big deal. Plus we didn't have money to go to a doctor. It finally did get better but by the time my ankle felt like someone had inserted a football under the skin and my upper leg started to hurt, even I was getting a bit worried. You can only "tough out" so much I suppose.  

But the though occured to me. What if that thing had bit me near my neck or upper arm and the poison had worked its way to my heart?  Do they have an antivenom?

Regardless, please be safe.

[Rowdy]

quote:Originally posted by inteller

outline your beds with tea tree oil.  it stinks, but they hate it and wont crawl in your bed.  the smell will subside but the oil will still be there.  do this every month.

it is too late to bomb them now.  you have to bomb them in march when they are nesting and coming out of hibernation.  do this next year.

all you can do this year is mitigate them.  just use lots of tea tree oil in places you want to keep them out.  put a little dish of it in under sink cabinets and that will deter them.

They hibernate?  So what's the difference between bombing them sleeping or on the run?  I didn't know they could handle the extreme colds of Oklahoma attics in the winter time and just died off.

[NellieBly]

Don't forget to treat the outside of your house, too. Stops them before they even get inside. Also, the daddy long leg will eat brown recluses. Maybe you should release a few into your house. At least you know DLL is harmless.

[Rowdy]

quote:Originally posted by NellieBly

Don't forget to treat the outside of your house, too. Stops them before they even get inside. Also, the daddy long leg will eat brown recluses. Maybe you should release a few into your house. At least you know DLL is harmless.

Anything I can get for the outside that works that I dont have to go through a Pest Control for?

[jdb]

"Anything I can get for the outside that works that I dont have to go through a Pest Control for?" - rowdy

Take a pickle jar down to Woodward park: pretty sure you'll find a scad of DLL's somewhere -
turn over a few rocks, check the corners in the restroom.

Hope this helps, jdb

[brunoflipper]

sticky traps (and lots of them) and the newer pyrethroids (cyfluthrin, cypermethrin) are your only hope... foggers don't really work... reduce clutter...

interestingly, i always loved this study...
http://www.news.ku.edu/2003/03N/NovNews/Nov7/spider.html

[grahambino]

the horseapples or hedgeapples from Bois D'Arc trees work as a spider repellent as well, ive been told.

I was having a spider problem when I lived in the panhandle and a few of the locals told me about it.  I was hesistant to use pesticides for my health and the health of my cat.  Just make sure you replace them every so often.  One of them fused to the cement floor of the basement.

[Chicken Little]

This bulletin from Texas A&M Extension might be useful:

quote: Controlling spiders
• As a precautionary measure, become familiar with what poisonous spiders look like and how they act.

• Because spiders nest in quiet, undisturbed areas, discourage them by cleaning and vacuuming closets, cellars and other such areas frequently.

• Seal buildings with caulk, screening and weather stripping to keep spiders from entering.

• Tape or seal boxes, especially in storage areas infested with brown recluse spiders.

• Where possible, wash off outside areas, particularly under roof eaves, with a water hose.

• Mechanically removing the webbing may be necessary because no chemical treatment to dissolve webs is available.

• When chemical control is needed, use products containing diazinon, chlorpyrifos, propoxur, bendiocarb, synergized pyrethrins, carbaryl, resmethrin, tetramethrin, malathion or mixtures of these insecticides. Always follow label directions and use only products labeled for spider control or for use in areas where spiders are found. Spray or dust outside under roof eaves, window ledges and porch and patio roofs. Inside, spray around windows, door facings and baseboards and in attics basements and storage places. Chemical control may not always be as successful as desired because spiders are mobile and may migrate back into the area. Also, species that sit on the web may not pick up much residual pesticide.

• Because some spiders, such as the brown recluse, can be difficult to control, homeowners may wish to engage a professional pest control operator.

First aid for spider bites
Relieve local swelling and pain by applying an ice pack, ammonia or alcohol directly to the bite area. In case of severe reaction, consult a doctor immediately and, if possible, take along the spider for positive identification. Specific antivenin is available to treat some widow spider bites.
Tips for professionals
• Advanced-generation pyrethroids, such as cyfluthrin, deltamethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, tralomethrin and bifenthrin, generally work well against spiders.

• Wettable powder formulations generally provide superior residual control on wood, concrete and brick surfaces.

• Residual pyrethroid dusts such as cyfluthrin or deltamethrin provide excellent control in inaccessible void areas.

• Brown recluse infestations are best treated with a combination of sanitation, residual sprays and dusts in appropriate areas.

• Aerosol fogs are generally ineffective for all but exposed stages of spiders, but may provide a useful supplement to residual sprays and dusts.

Personally, I like pyrethrins (Permethrin) for around the house and yard. They're found naturally in the chrysanthemum and are the active ingredient in several commercial bug killers (look for mosquito and ant killers)...They're not very toxic at all to humans.  The advanced pyrethroids look slightly more toxic, cyfluthrin is very common (I love to read the labels).  But it's still way better than malathion, carbaryl (Sevin) and diazinon (you can't even buy diazinon for residential use anymore...nasty).

If you are a hippy, Rowdy, you might just plant chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium


Not sure that it'd be as effective as the insecticides, but they're pretty.

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by Rowdy

I tried my first fogging about six years ago.  I put 12 foggers in my home including the attic and garage.  

I went and bought 12 fumigators and 6 foggers.  They were both RAID products.  

I re-fogged the attic again with three fumigators since I had those left tonight.

WOW.  All those foggers and fumigators, that sounds really excessive to me.

I would lay off those and call in professionals and be very carefull if you have any indoor gas appliances with standing pilot lights, such as furnaces, kitchen stoves, or water heaters.  The use of that many foggers in a closed-up house combined with burning standing pilots can actually cause a house to explode.  Don't laugh; there are several documented cases of houses exploding from over-zealous use of bug foggers and pesticides.

And all the money you are spending on foggers and do-it-youself treatments would probably pay for thorough (and safer) professional extermination.

[Chicken Little]

This is a commercial site, but they seem to know what they are talking about.  They use pyrethroids, often wettable powders, microencapsulated, or dusts.  The residue hangs around long enough to knock down the population.  Looks like you can order this stuff from various places at various prices.

[Rowdy]

quote:Originally posted by Steve

quote:Originally posted by Rowdy

I tried my first fogging about six years ago.  I put 12 foggers in my home including the attic and garage.  

I went and bought 12 fumigators and 6 foggers.  They were both RAID products.  

I re-fogged the attic again with three fumigators since I had those left tonight.

WOW.  All those foggers and fumigators, that sounds really excessive to me.

I would lay off those and call in professionals and be very carefull if you have any indoor gas appliances with standing pilot lights, such as furnaces, kitchen stoves, or water heaters.  The use of that many foggers in a closed-up house combined with burning standing pilots can actually cause a house to explode.  Don't laugh; there are several documented cases of houses exploding from over-zealous use of bug foggers and pesticides.

And all the money you are spending on foggers and do-it-youself treatments would probably pay for thorough (and safer) professional extermination.

Sounds excessive until you see Recluses all over your bed, couch and kid's rooms.  I always turn off every pilot light in the house.

[Rowdy]

quote:Originally posted by Chicken Little

This is a commercial site, but they seem to know what they are talking about.  They use pyrethroids, often wettable powders, microencapsulated, or dusts.  The residue hangs around long enough to knock down the population.  Looks like you can order this stuff from various places at various prices.

Looks like I will order something from this site.  I hope it doesn't hurt pets though....

[Rowdy]

Couldn't order from this site for some reason so went over to doyourownpestcontrol.com and it was cheaper and with free shipping.  I ordered DELTA DUST to put in the attic and SUSPEND SC for the spray. Thanks for steering me in the right direction.  The total was only 64.00 which included a duster to spread the dust with.  

RECLUSES MUST DIE NOW!   [}:)]