A bluish-white ring encircled a small puncture mark on the back of my neighbor’s leg. Visual evidence of an insect bite. She claims it wasn’t painful at the time, but when the itching became intolerable, she sought professional care. There weren’t any other noticeable symptoms at the time, but the treating doctor said it could have been worse and probably a venomous spider bite. Nothing makes me clog more than the idea of a spider. Unlike my spider-phobic counterparts, I can tolerate the sight of a spider web without going into a frenzy of screaming and pounding, but I still don’t like them. What kind of spider leaves an ugly itchy mark? We don’t have poisonous spiders here in Canada, do we? The visual evidence of my neighbors’ injury is conclusive, we have poisonous spiders here. He warned me about infestations from our eight-legged friends, but I couldn’t bring myself to accept such a thought until I saw the redness and swelling increase. She left me with a stark warning; Beware of those things that hide in dark and quiet places.
nature resources
There are many benefits to having these opportunistic feeders in our ecosystem, after all, they deserve respect as insect exterminators. Spiders’ food sources depend on the species. White-tailed spiders are one bound spider or (spider eater), meaning they rarely feed on creatures other than spiders. Additionally, the spider species Salticids and Dipoena mimic ants, mixing to obtain their food source. All spiders are known to live within a restricted prey range, with little variation, most are quite adaptive to their habitat. They love insects; mosquitoes, flies, wasps, caterpillars, butterflies, dragonflies, beetles, crickets, silverfish, grasshoppers, and other small insects, including other spiders.
In general, most spiders only eat live prey and do NOT intentionally hunt humans, regardless of what you may fear, they only bite if inadvertently provoked or disturbed. Carnivorous and cannibalistic in nature, spiders are designed to inject venom into their prey to immobilize it. Fortunately, the common house spider is neither dangerous nor poisonous to humans, but will bite if threatened.
The two types of spiders that are considered venomous in Ontario are the black widow spider and the brown recluse spider. Bites from these two species can produce severe symptoms that require medical treatment. All arachnids prefer dry and warm climates, which is why they are most visible during the summer months and are driven by innate instincts to survive the cold and harsh winter weather in our indoor environment.
home invasion
Spiders are solitary, tiny, and nocturnal. They need a place to catch food sources to sustain their life. Avoiding a home invasion is simple: look for places where they can easily sneak in; Holes in widows or door screens, cracks in walls, window frames or doors, and seal them, but be careful with the dryer vent, it may be particularly attractive. To restrict their access to your indoor environment, inspect the interior of your home and then do the same outdoors, but pay special attention to spaces under porches or decks where they often go unnoticed.
Once inside, they love to hide in cool, dark, dusty or cluttered spaces and where there is air circulation. In particular, they like quiet areas of your home around large appliances, cabinets or cupboards, and places like woodpiles, foundations, crawl spaces, vents, closets, under beds, and in attics. Paper products or cardboard packaging, food scraps and poorly disposed of, such as bread crumbs, seem to attract them as well.
Natural home remedies to live without spiders
The simplest remedy is to vacuum the areas where you have found spiders. Keep the vacuum clean and sealed. Some environmental deterrents, I researched, are the use of chestnuts and diatomaceous earth (consists of the fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae) around the exterior walls of each room and at doorways. I have successfully tried lavender soap mixed with lemon oils as a natural spider deterrent. Mix 2 tablespoons of lemon essential oil with 2 cups of lavender liquid soap in a spray bottle; shake to mix ingredients. Spray around all entrances; doors, windows or wherever spider webs are found.
Silicone caulk is best for use on all exterior and interior cracks and holes in your home. Most importantly, clean up spider-prone areas by trimming away excess vegetation on the outside and removing cardboard boxes and clutter on the inside. My mother sprinkled strong spices in the kitchen behind the large appliances and dusted everything with lemon oil, which is probably why my childhood home was virtually spider-free. Other good traditional home remedies to try include washing windows with ammonia and water, followed by newspaper and kerosene (which evaporates and leaves a repellent residue), placing pieces of crabapples in spider-infested areas, or simply plugging high-frequency devices into your home. While other remedies include adopting a cat or getting some ladybugs to kill off spiders, I have used eucalyptus leaves. Not only do things smell great, this herbal plant is great for eradicating cold symptoms.
If you must exterminate spiders, determine if they are the venomous, meat-destroying type, such as brown recluse spiders or the female black widow, as some webs can be beneficial, especially if you live near water.