Spiders, need advice

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Replies

  • neojedi
    neojedi Posts: 12 Member
    Oh, and VintageHollywood, as a landlord in Hollywood, CA, I'd give you this advice:
    -contact the landlord and tell him you'll be contacting the LAHD about the infestation
    -contact the LAHD about the infestation
    -buy a LOT of this stuff:
    http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Wisdom-Grade-Diatomaceous-Earth/dp/B003QJ8CSE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1403929154&sr=8-2&keywords=Diatomaceous+Earth

    (What do I mean by "a lot?" Enough to have a thick coating across every single floor surface of your house, including inside cabinets and under furniture), on bookshelves, inside nooks and crannies, etc., as well as in front of door cracks, and (if your apartment has an exterior wall) outside. Also: squeeze into air vents. PUT IT EVERYWHERE.

    It's organic and not harmful to humans or pets.

    You should pack your bags...carefully. Make sure you don't have "hitchhikers"
    Then, either your landlord or a pest control dude should spray inside the walls to flush the spiders out INTO the apartment, where the dust is
    Move out for 1-2 weeks, if possible
    Meet landlord back in apartment to clean up the spider - there should be dead bodies everywhere

    Once they clean up, put another LIBERAL coating of the stuff around the edges of your room and in same nook/cranny/etc. area.
    Keep that up for a few weeks, probably at least a month
    Back off on using it and see if they're taken care of

    The goal is to starve them out or poison them out into the dust, then the dust basically gets into their joints when they walk into it and cracks their exoskeleton. They then dehydrate as moisture seeps into their bodies. It's like if a human walked over ground glass, we bleed out. I did that for bedbugs - it took a month, and for most of it I was covered in white chalky powder, but when it was over, it was OVER.

    That's IF you don't want to/can't afford to move. Me? I'd move...bedbugs are bad, a spider infestation...I can't imagine. I live in the city: I see anything alive that isn't me in my apartment, it dies or I move.

    Good luck. And thanks for giving me the freakouts all night!
  • klight1236
    klight1236 Posts: 69 Member
    I can't stand seeing one spider let alone seeing multiples. I would've run a lonnnnnnggggggggg time ago. My sister still has to come and save me when I see a bug. If you can capture one and get proof that it is indeed a brown recluse you and your landlord still does nothing but spray you can probably sue or get outta your lease because it's endangering your life ( I have no real knowledge so don't sue without getting legal consulting first).
  • vintagehollywood
    vintagehollywood Posts: 9 Member
    Wow. Thanks, everyone! (And thanks for not mocking and being all "silly girl, its just a spider.")

    To respond, in no certain order:
    - Yes, they are brown recluse. I have enough specimens on my glue boards to identify them. Fiddle back, all one brown color, slightly hairy legs, six eyes.

    - The super huge ones were last May, and I only a saw three of them. All the rest (up until this year) were tiny -- something I was okay to handle. According to the U of I spider page, the body size can get up to 3/4", not including leg diameter I think. If I knew how to post pictures on here … ?
    -- I found this on the internet … http://s1.hubimg.com/u/7705476_f520.jpg …. does that help? Mine are the big ones. (Ugh)

    - The landlord issue is complicated. The apartment was actually sold to new landlords this winter, and they have been amazing for what they have had to deal with about it. They sprayed within a week of my asking. They removed the ivy off the side of my house (something I had repeatedly requested of the old landlords) as soon as I asked it of them. I think the problem is exacerbated by the fact that the old landlords did not seem to take that much care in the place beyond new paint and cleaning (and I think the previous tenants didn't either), so it has become the infestation that it is now. I actually had a previous spider-free apartment with the old landlords which is why I chose to stay with them when I transferred to this area. I didn't even think about spiders during that transition -- but now I know! ha.

    It might be to the point where anything short of a complete building overhaul will not help. Also, I know my neighbors get them, but they don't seem to have the same size or quantity issues I do. My apartment is on the end of a row.

    - Southern IL, located.

    - Neojedi, I've read about the diatomaceous earth. would that help them coming in from outside as well, a long-term thing, or just killing what was already present in the walls and ductwork?
  • vintagehollywood
    vintagehollywood Posts: 9 Member
    I come at this from an entirely different direction. For the last 30 years I have gone out of my way to never kill a spider. When I came home from the Navy, I was staying in our little house by the pond. One day I killed a spider as I was walking down the hall. Fifteen seconds later another spider came leaping out of the bathroom and bit me on the foot. The two had communicated, even though they were in different rooms. That got me to thinking. What if they teamed up on me while I was sleeping? If there were enough of them, I would be doomed. So since that day, I have tried my best not to kill spiders. I do have my house sprayed by a professional service. I just hope they don't hold me responsible for their departed loved ones.

    Larro

    I totally understand that spider communication thing.

    I am normally a catch and release kinda person, too. I found a huge spider on my kitchen floor once about ten years ago, he was missing a leg poor guy. So took him outside, released him, and didn't see another spider in that place for about six months. I swear he told his buddies I was a-okay.
  • Mr_Bad_Example
    Mr_Bad_Example Posts: 2,403 Member
    OP, you need to call this guy.

    SMPQgix.gif
  • PapaverSomniferum
    PapaverSomniferum Posts: 2,677 Member
    these are the spiders my house attracts

    10438351_4305614936760_770696147551698285_n.jpg

    luckily, they aren't brown recluses. Unluckily, they're as big or bigger than mice, so it's like having double pest problems at once.

    At least we don't live in Australia, right OP?
  • MaiLinna
    MaiLinna Posts: 580 Member
    We actually get brown recluse up here, but it's rare. I live in Northeastern Ohio and I've seen them. Tiny things.

    As a cat enthusiast, however, I would have packed up my kitty and ran back to my Mom's house a long time ago. Spiders? Nty. Deadly spiders? NO EFFING WAY.

    All you gotta do is prove that they're a brown recluse, prove that your landlords refuse to do anything, then take that **** to Judge Judy.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,953 Member
    Burn it. Burn it to the ground. Salt the Earth, and move to Nebraska.
  • vintagehollywood
    vintagehollywood Posts: 9 Member
    I'm okay with spiders, usually. Web-builders eat other insects, including recluses if they catch them. And watching them build webs is really nifty. Parson spiders, too, are not poisonous to any large degree, and are kinda pretty.

    It's that the recluses are potentially very very dangerous if they bite you in the wrong spot, on a vein or other important circulatory system areas, and my cat seems to think they are playthings. I love him and he's a good cat, just doesn't understand why I take away the toy with a look of panic on my face.

    PapaverSomnif, are those dangerous? Other than annoying?

    Haha, I think Australia is fantastic. I would probably react the same there as I am here, too: as long as they aren't coming into my house with the mad persistence that these guys are, I'm cool with their existence.
  • PapaverSomniferum
    PapaverSomniferum Posts: 2,677 Member
    I'm okay with spiders, usually. Web-builders eat other insects, including recluses if they catch them. And watching them build webs is really nifty. Parson spiders, too, are not poisonous to any large degree, and are kinda pretty.

    It's that the recluses are potentially very very dangerous if they bite you in the wrong spot, on a vein or other important circulatory system areas, and my cat seems to think they are playthings. I love him and he's a good cat, just doesn't understand why I take away the toy with a look of panic on my face.

    PapaverSomnif, are those dangerous? Other than annoying?

    Haha, I think Australia is fantastic. I would probably react the same there as I am here, too: as long as they aren't coming into my house with the mad persistence that these guys are, I'm cool with their existence.

    nah, my wolf-spiders-on-steroids are docile and harmless. their bite would be painful, but would be benign if i pissed one off enough to bite me.

    for some reason, they like to live right in my door jam, though, which is a bit unnerving. if they get inside, the cat makes short work of them (they're pretty much 8 legged mice), but my Saint Bernard is terrified of them.

    in fact, i rarely see any spiders indoors. bug hunting is my house cat's favorite past time next to napping and making noise at 3am.
  • Tigermum9
    Tigermum9 Posts: 546 Member
    Im in Britain and the house spiders here are prob about an inch big and I complain about them!! Maybe now Ill shut up!!!!
  • vintagehollywood
    vintagehollywood Posts: 9 Member
    in fact, i rarely see any spiders indoors. bug hunting is my house cat's favorite past time next to napping and making noise at 3am.

    Can your cat teach my cat his hunting tricks? Mine just plays with them until they are either extremely angry or give up on life. No idea what happened with that spider the other day. Must've been a fluke. (Poor kitty, don't tell him I've lost faith.)
  • KameHameHaaaa
    KameHameHaaaa Posts: 837 Member
    Oh, god. I wouldn't be able to handle it. I don't even know if i'd be able to pack my own things, I'd probably have to wear a hazmat suit or just have a brave friend pack for me. I haven't seen any brown recluses here, but I just recently moved to the south and we have HUGE spiders. They're wolf spiders but look big enough to take down a rat. The first time I saw one around here I stayed at a friends house for the weekend LOL. Wore the same clothes and everything for three days because I just couldn't get myself to go in my room and get clothes before leaving.. >_<
  • vintagehollywood
    vintagehollywood Posts: 9 Member
    So the new landlords, who are wonderfully sympathetic, are going to call Terminex and see if they can address entry points.

    *crosses fingers*

    On the other hand, I found a nice place if I do have to move … so here's hoping it gets solved either way