We moved in to our house in the fall of last year. Within days, we realized that we had a spider infestation, mostly wolf spiders (harmless but huge and scary!), but also had lots of poisonous brown recluse spiders. Black widows are also native to this area, but we haven't seen one...yet.
Any ideas for keeping them away?
The thing about spiders is that if they are making a good living, it because they are regularly feeding on other pests. An exterminator is an obvious choice here to get the situation under control. They will perform extermination and maintenance services as well as call backs as needed. I think its your best choice. If you are big on DIY, and don't mind applying chemicals and crawling around where spiders lurk, you can learn about spider control here: http://www.bugspray.com/articles98/spiders.html
Hi,
Brown recluse spiders are notoriously difficult to eliminate from your home. In my experience, exterminators are often clueless and can increase the problem via using the wrong chemicals at the wrong time. Your best bet is to use sticky traps to identify problem areas and then treat accordingly. Remove clutter, especially boxes and paper bags. Demon powder seems to have the strongest efficacy in terms of spider control. Read through the Brown Recluse Project at the University of Kansas for additional information.
Brown recluse spiders are notoriously difficult to eliminate from your home. In my experience, exterminators are often clueless and can increase the problem via using the wrong chemicals at the wrong time. Your best bet is to use sticky traps to identify problem areas and then treat accordingly. Remove clutter, especially boxes and paper bags. Demon powder seems to have the strongest efficacy in terms of spider control. Read through the Brown Recluse Project at the University of Kansas for additional information.