# Overrun with brown recluse



## CarolynRenee (Jan 30, 2008)

I've been killing, on average, two of these darn spiders every day (not including the ones in the traps). We put out the sticky traps in corners, behind sinks, under cabinets, etc. The little buggers seem to get stuck in the bathtubs all the time. I'm actually wondering if i should make a bunch of mini-bathtubs to use as traps as it seems to be the best at catching them! Just kidding.

Anyways, I've had enough of them! It's never been this bad, and to make things "worse", we brought a daughter into the world this spring & I'm afraid that eventually she's going to be bitten by one of them. Granted, I've never been bitten, but then again, I won't be crawling around the floor & I know not to slap at them or play with them. I'm almost to the point of spraying poison in the cracks, floor joists, any hiding spots, but I don't want to because of the baby (besides, I read that with brown recluse, you really can't kill them with poison unless you make a direct "hit" with the poison on them).

Any ideas?

Oh, and I'm sure that the fact we live in a log home (with PLENTY of hidey-holes) and in the woods doesn't help much.


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## plowjockey (Aug 18, 2008)

A "bug bomb" does a great job of removing spiders in their hiding places, since it is a fog. We have lots of spiders, but used a bomb for fleas in the basement. The fleas stayed, but the spiders were gone for nearly a year.

IMO, any minimal risk from the bomb, would be better than the possibility of getting bit by a poisionous spider.


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## glazed (Aug 19, 2006)

I'd do the "smoke bombs" instead of the chemical foggers ... those are sooooo messy to clean up afterwards, and leave an oily residue on everything.

Smoke gets in the cracks and crevices better than solid, sprayed stuff anyway.


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## Iddee (Sep 25, 2005)

Use silicone caulk to seal all the cracks and crannies, then you won't need any poison.


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## uyk7 (Dec 1, 2002)

I've read that if you let a chicken run around the house for a few days the spiders will be gone. Can't verify that though.


.


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## PinkBat (Jul 15, 2006)

We've got a lot of them in the house too. Spraying chemicals around the baseboards has never helped and I haven't tried any foggers. 

We've had them for years and so far have not been bitten. I read up about them on a university website and it said that people can share a house with hundreds of them and never get bitten. They recommended to not let bedding hang onto the floor and to shake out clothing before putting it on. I hate 'em.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Bug Bombs -- Plan on spending the day away, remove any pets and make sure all the food is covered, open up every cupboard and closet and set off a bug bomb in every room in the house.
You'll have some cleaning to do when you get back (wiping down, vacuming, rinsing all dishes), but that should take care of them. As the poster above said, make sure the house is caulked and sealed to prevent more coming in.


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## ronbre (Apr 26, 2009)

i think i'd borrow a chicken..can you imagine that bug bomb stuff in everything ?? I used those in the outdoor buildings before (shed, garage) and they leave a mess..not just mess but dead bugs everywhere !!


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

In general, but not always, I've found spiders don't like areas that have been exposed to bleach. Dunno why, just an observation. My old standby, boric acid, is even put in babies eyes. Dusted down and swept into cracks it'll keep a lot of bugs down and is nowhere near as toxic to humans as some of the nerve chemicals used on bugs.


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## nathan104 (Nov 16, 2007)

When we bought our place, it had been empty for almost two years and was over run with brown recluses and scorpions. The BEST way to get them is to put out tons of the sticky traps. We caught thousands on them. They like dark places and dont like to be disturbed. Spray bug spray in all your corners, ceiling and floor, spray behind the toilet tank where it butts against the wall. Spiders are very hard to kill with a typical bug sppray since they have long legs and their torso is up off the ground. If you have shrubbery around your house, none of it should be touching the outside walls. Cut it back to where there is a few inches of open space between your house and any plants or foliage. This is how most bugs enter the home. Then, you can put a line of seven dust around the house on the ground. We did set off several bug bombs and even had a guy come in and spray professionally once. But, the sticky traps is how we got most of them.


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## pheasantplucker (Feb 20, 2007)

Each autumn, I put a couple of osage orange (hedgeapple) fruits on the floor, in the corner of each room. All the old timers around my place swear by it and it seems to work.


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## Jenn (Nov 9, 2004)

I would put DE or borax around the house where teh baby won't crawl.


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## crashy (Dec 10, 2004)

I like the chicken idea BUTT there is one problem..... I wonder if a diaper could somehow be fashioned....ooooo I am getting an idea.....
Seriously, tho I hope you find away to get those nasty guys outta there!!! You seem to be getting a lot of good ideas in this post.


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## Tbird79 (Aug 6, 2009)

nathan104 said:


> Spiders are very hard to kill with a typical bug sppray since they have long legs and their torso is up off the ground.


This information on spiders makes sense to me. I have thought about using DE but had a feeling it wouldn't be very effective with spiders. I have a recluse problem that started in my garage, thanks to all the clutter I've allowed to build up over the years. I'm working on the clutter issue & killing the spiders whenever I find them. It sounds like the sticky traps are helpful. Has anyone noticed if their kill rate changes with the weather? I probably should have gotten my sticky traps out sooner. It has cooled off here & now I'm wondering if I'm seeing less recluse spiders because of the weather change. We have had to be careful with bringing things from the garage into the house because those spiders are hiding in things. I brought one into the house that had been hiding in a portable cd player! Set the player up next to my bed. A few hours later I pulled the covers back to climb in and there was a recluse! I'd never found one in my bed before & I don't allow the covers to hang on the ground. That was a reality check indeed!


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

"Bug Bomb" .... "smoke bombs" .... "boric acid" .... "borax" ???

I spoke to a garden supply company about these and was told "sulfur" was used years ago to smoke bad bugs out of cellars, basements, etc.; but that it can no longer be found. (I remember my grandmother using sulfur to "smoke" up her cellar many years ago.)

Is "bug bomb" the same as "smoke bombs"? Where can I get some of these?

Is "boric acid" the same as "borax"? Where can I get this?

We have found what looks like recluse, though I am being told none exist in this area (southern part of Virginia), black widow spiders, those red flat-like ants I am told would kill a cow if it bit one, banana spider (only saw it once in back pasture) among other sundry bugs, spiders, ants, lizards, rats, mice, moles, black snakes (even 2 grown copper heads curled up together in late fall at chicken house door..we think someone put there as we have never seen copperheads before here), etc. I am told this is simply part of country living! However, some of these are a nuisance and can be a bit nerve wrecking; so would like to move them off our little 6 acres. Am thinking some of the items you have all mentioned in here might be a way of doing this.

We purchased a very old, used trailer to sit on this parcel of land and to live in. It was terribly dirty (grease all over kitchen) and full of roaches. We purchased some "house geckos" and turned them loose in that trailer and now many of the roaches are gone. Will probably purchase more house geckos next year to complete the job. Thus, do not want to endanger these geckos.

Any information/help in getting rid of the dangerous creatures would be appreciated.


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## halfpint (Jan 24, 2005)

When we had a flea problem once and we were going to be gone for a week, so I put DE all over the house while we were gone with plans to vacuum as soon as we got back. We found lots of dead spiders when we got back, so apparently DE does work on spiders. The fleas were gone also.

Dawn


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## Tbird79 (Aug 6, 2009)

Well, that is good to know. I have some de and have been tempted to spread it around in the garage. Don't have another use for it really. Regarding motdaugrnds post about the recluse not being in virginia, I find that hard to believe. With all sorts of items being shipped everywhere to all parts of the country, surely recluse spiders can be shipped (accidentally to Virginia. If they are in IL and OK, I can't see a logical reason why they would be in Virginia. If you take a picture of the recluse I can ID it in a heart beat, if it's not blurry. I have become a recluse expert. Self proclaimed, of course! Not sure what ants you are talking about, Mot. There is a species of ant called Cow Killer, but it's just an expression because they are big & furry. Now if you are talking about fire ants, that's another story. I imagine that if a young calf stumbled into a fire ant nest, they could probably sting it to death.


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## fantasymaker (Aug 28, 2005)

hedge apples are supposed to repel them their should be plenty available about now.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

uyk7 said:


> I've read that if you let a chicken run around the house for a few days the spiders will be gone. Can't verify that though.
> 
> 
> .


my brownies like to hide up on the ceiling... I do have chickens that enter the house, if the door is left open for long... but they have trouble getting to the 'good spots'...


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## ejagno (Jan 2, 2008)

Do whatever it takes to keep these brown recluse out of your home. I almost lost my husband two years ago from 11 brown recluse bites on his torso, butt and thighs. These are nothing to mess with. We had bought him a new office chair and the exterminator found the nest in the base of the chair. The poison in his system was so severe it was shutting down his vital organs. Chemical or not......................it beats being dead. I had an exterminator come in and although it wasn't fun getting everything cleared up it was worth every penny and extra effort to have my husbands life.


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## ginnie5 (Jul 15, 2003)

I will second the use of chemicals! When we bought this house we had brown recluses here. Didn't know it though. Our bedroom had been added on and the back of our closet was actually the old hardboard siding of the house. Not thinking anything about spiders I put our clean sheets in the top of the closet. Changed the sheets one day...got in bed that night and woke up the next morning with bites. Had several on my ankle and dh had two or three on his leg. I went to the doctor not that it did any good. I can't take several antibiotics and all the ones he wanted to give me make me really sick. My ankle swelled up terrible. It was black and had big old ***** holes where the bites were. It hurt to move much less walk. Dh had the same thing on his leg. We cleaned them several times a day with tea tree oil and I would pack the holes with goldenseal....they were big enough to easily pack it in. We did find a dead brown recluse in the sheets that morning. So every few years now or whenever I notice an increase of ANY spiders I bomb the house. I will not take a chance on my kids getting bitten like dh and I were. It was so painful and took months to heal. We've been in this house 9 years and it happened the summer we moved in....I still have a few faint marks on my ankle where the bites were.


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## cider (Nov 13, 2004)

When we had a cat in the house we never saw spiders or bugs. Now that kitty is gone they are coming back.
Spray, vacuum, cat.


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## foxygram (Sep 4, 2008)

My house is overrun with spiders. I just killed a brown recluse in my kitchen as my small Pomeranian dog was sniffing it with nose just about touching it. Barefoot and did not hesitate to stomp on it, guts squirted everywhere. It's leg span was larger than a quarter and prominent fangs. I have been bit 3 times by brown recluse and got very sick each time. Last summer on a camping trip got bit by a wolf spider in 4 places. We have a saying in this house that a spider will come from 10 miles out just to bite me. Unknown to us we transported a nest of Black Widow spiders underneath a deck we moved to this house. They have been very prolific and we have a large invasion every fall. My best defanse has always been chlorine bleach in the scrub water. Not just a tad, really soak those floors and shove it into the cracks on the edges. Not all sprays have a chemical in them to kill spiders so one has to look on the can for the ingredient that is lethal to spiders. Spraying an unbroken line will greatly reduce the population as they have to crawl across it to move into the house, through a door or window. I put my mask on and start spraying around a room, the door frame, window frames, and don't forget the pipes whereever they go through a wall is an open invitation. Pouring around the outside of the foundaiton of the house gets better saturation. We have also used the insecticide that can be applied to the outside of the house with a garden hose. All of these things help but it is a never ending battle. Fall is always the worst around here as they are looking for a nice warm place to winter. good luck. Foxy


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## barnyardgal (Sep 21, 2009)

thought i would add my experience here with 20 mule team borax washing powders found in the laundry section at most stores...
i sprinkle the powders in the basement on the outer walls and in the garage on the outer walls and been doing this for 3 years now in the fall of the year...and find all kinds of dead bugs i did not know i had including spiders and crickets...first fall found a dead spider the size of my hand,don't know where he was hiding at but found him dead and do not know what kind he was but he was dead!!
i have inside/outside cats and a dog and never has bothered the animals and heard it was safe to use around animals....
might try this method as it has worked for me and safe to...


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## green5acres (Aug 13, 2004)

ejagno said:


> Do whatever it takes to keep these brown recluse out of your home. I almost lost my husband two years ago from 11 brown recluse bites on his torso, butt and thighs. These are nothing to mess with. We had bought him a new office chair and the exterminator found the nest in the base of the chair. The poison in his system was so severe it was shutting down his vital organs. Chemical or not......................it beats being dead. I had an exterminator come in and although it wasn't fun getting everything cleared up it was worth every penny and extra effort to have my husbands life.


Yes they are very dangerous, nothing to mess with. My best friends husband got bit and all his organs shut down, He died.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I think I would be turning chameleons (anoles) loose in the house. They'll eat all the bugs and I'd rather sweep up their little dry droppings than risk getting bit. Just set a shallow bowl of water on the floor to provide water and let them hunt for their food.

I read about a CA woman that got bit and woke up from a coma to find she lost both feet and both hands. Nothing to take lightly.


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## liquorlawman (Jun 14, 2008)

I had the same problem. I tried a pro exterminator with no luck. Finally after being bit I got angry and bought a few boxes of foggers at Dollar General. I put two in every room and even threw five under the house like grenades. 

I have not seen one in months LOL Of course I had to leave all day and then come back and air out the house. 

Make sure to trip your breakers and extinguish all open flames


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## Tbird79 (Aug 6, 2009)

Wow! Thanks for all the info & tips. I have 5 cats. Once in a while I see a cat going after a spider, but it's rarely a recluse. Usually a wolf or a grass spider. Almost any spider can bite you and cause an infection, wolf spiders are generally thought of as harmless, when we find them in the house we catch them and turn them loose outside. I have no fear of spiders, but an incredible dislike for these recluse. Turning chameleons loose in the house isn't really an option, with 5 cats. Our house is on a slab, has no crawl space. Does have an attic though. I am not opposed to pesticides in this case. My 79 year old mother lives with me & if anyone gets bit, it would probably be her. She has an amazing amount of clutter in her room. Dang it!


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## Tbird79 (Aug 6, 2009)

Those of you that used chemicals, exactly which ones were they? I don't want to spray something that doesn't really work. You can't always trust labels.


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## Paul Wheaton (May 10, 2002)

How did this turn out?

I think the poisons are a bad idea. Especially the foggers and bombs cuz th poison gets into everything.

I was once bitten by a brown recluse and the solution I ended up with (which has worked): don't smash the other spiders. Smash only brown recluse spiders. 

With an army of daddy longlegs spiders hard at work, there is no food left for the brown recluse spiders. If you kill all of the spiders, then you leave lots of spider food for any ole spider to come along.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

I'm woundering too. When I got bit, before I even saw the bite, it started affecting my Kidneys.


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## KIT.S (Oct 8, 2008)

My mom lives with me, she's 87, and she attracts any bug that bites! After seeing some of the biggest Hobo spiders ever, inside the house and in the shop, we moved the chicks and orchids out of the house and bombed with bugbombs that specified "spiders." Well, it made them ill, anyway. The spiders were slow and groggy and seemed to come out into the open, so we went around and swatted everything we could find. 
I'd still use the bombs, since it's so dangerous for my Mom to get bitten, but I don't think they're completely effective.
Kit
Oregon


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## thebugguy (Sep 12, 2005)

Ok, so I am a "professional" entomologist (imagine that), but not a professional exterminator. I've got a buddy who makes his living dealing with brown recluses and knows a heckuvalot more about them than I do, but you'll have to pay him for his opinion. Mine comes free- value it as you please.

That said, I do have a few comments to make...

First, forget hedge apples, chickens or cats. These critters are called brown RECLUSE spiders because they spend a lot of their time HIDING. Even general "bugbombs" or foggers only go so far because these critters are not usually found wandering around out in the open on your countertops and whatnot. That's not to say you won't find them out and about (or in your tub)- I have often seen them walking around on the walls in my house in Kansas, but it's usually at night during their active foraging period. Typically they are out of sight, out of mind.

They like clutter to hide behind and under- clean up as much junk laying around the house and garage as you can and keep stuff off the floor. Then, to cut down their numbers (eradicating them completely is unrealistic in most cases) 1. spray a quick spritz of fast-acting insecticides (like RAID) behind bookshelves, underneath cabinets, into airducts, etc. and 2. place sticky traps in every corner of every room in the house. Although you won't kill every single spider, it is fairly easy to knock back the population to a manageable level. Re-do the spraying and replace the sticky traps after six months- you should see a dramatic drop-off in the capture rate. By the way, how long their legs are has nothing to do with how susceptible they are to insecticides- it has more to do with the permeability of their exoskeleton.

The spiders will likely continue to have breeding populations in your attic, crawlspaces, airducts, etc., no matter how much work you put into your living spaces. Don't believe anyone who says they can completely rid your house of them- they can't. In many parts of the country it's merely a matter of keeping them under control.

Lastly, diatomaceous earth is good for some critters, but it makes a mess and I really don't see it helping much with brown recluses. It is true, however, that they are susceptible to other arthropod predators, so don't squish other large predatory spiders or centipedes- they'll do you favors.

And, as I've learned from traveling in the tropics, always shake out your boots before putting them on in the morning...

cheers,
thebugguy


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