Brown recluse spider

Dust Off Your Pest Control Techniques The Brown Recluse Spider Is Active Again

2012-06-23T23:16:00.000-07:00

Did you relax your pest control techniques for insects over the winter?
Those brown recluse spiders took to hiding in their crannies, and crevices, for the last three or four months. They lurked in the shadows just out of sight. But they didn't go very far away, and now they're developing eggs. Soon those eggs will hatch, and you'll have a bunch of little tiny brown recluse crawling all over your house.
Yesterday my lady started some spring-cleaning on the patio. She told me when she moved things around spiders went scurrying everywhere. She said there were all kinds of spiders out there.
I didn't say anything about that, and I didn't go have a look see. I know from experience many of the spiders she seen running away were most likely brown recluse. Those things are everywhere in the neighborhood now.
That's strange because just a few years ago we supposedly didn't have recluse spiders in Indiana. Now a days, even though I'm no longer an active pest control technician, I here about brown recluse bites all the time.
I think the main reason people get bitten is because most people don't know what a recluse looks like. Sure the majority of people know about that mark on the spider's back that's shaped like a violin, or fiddle. It's the reason we call the spider the fiddler.
But if you're trying to identify this spider by that mark you're way too close to the insect if it's still living. That violin is so small it's hard to see.
I studied pictures, and got an image of the spider firmly fixed in my head, back when I started my pest control technician days. Now I recognize one when I see it from a distance of a few feet. So I know to be very careful when I approach.
The brown recluse has distinctive legs. They're very long. They angle upward from the body for a short distance, and then turn back downward toward the ground. That turn, or bend, in the leg is kind of like our knee. The body is long, and slender. But it's very small too. That's why the fiddle mark is hard to identify.
These guys have a nasty bite. My father found that out the hard way. A recluse bit him on the first knuckle of his middle finger. He didn't really feel the bite. When you do feel it you only feel a slight pinch. But a short time later his knuckle started turning red, then it began swelling, and an angry wound opened up.
That red started crawling up his finger next. And then the doctors cut his finger off so the poison couldn't spread up his arm, and into his body.
Not fun.
Treating for brown recluse spiders is simple enough if you know how.
The hard part is learning how to recognize this pest. And then you must learn how to take care of it with the proper pest control techniques.
Joseph Jackson is an experienced pest control technician and author of SPIDER RIDDANCE, a how to guide for performing do-it-yourself pest control for controlling spiders.

The Big Little Bite Brown Recluse Spiders, Your Home, and You

2012-06-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

Crickets, and snails and other creepy-crawlies...they don't scare me. Snakes? Nah, they don't scare me either unless they're making rattling noises or standing at attention to an accompaniment of music from a snake charmers' flute. Neither do I suffer from arachnophobia (a general fear of spiders). Perhaps that lack of general concern for critters and such is a product of having been reared in central Florida where bugs are seemingly everywhere.There is one particular fear, though, that I do have...whether it be founded or unfounded, good or bad...and that's the quite reasonable (in my estimation) fear of unknowingly coming in too close contact with a Loxoceles reclusa...a Brown Recluse spider. If the truth were to be accurately conveyed...the very thought gives me the heebie-jeebies. The Brown Recluse is one of the few spiders that are harmful to humans. Another spider that is harmful to humans is the Black Widow with which most of us are at least vaguely familiar...but for some reason they just don't bother me too much although I am always "on the lookout" for them too.
Having performed thousands and thousands of Raleigh home inspections, I have had the opportunity to go in some great homes. I have also had the...opportunity, if you will...of going into some homes that were, well, not so great. Even in homes that look perfectly safe and in near pristine condition, there are potential dangers that may be lurking about.
Here in the eastern United States a large percentage of homes are constructed upon crawl space foundations. Crawl spaces have the deserved reputation of being less than desirable places to "hang out". I don't know anyone who finishes dinner, for instance, and says to their significant other "Honey, let's go down in the crawl space for a little while and...." You get the picture; it's just not the favorite part of the average persons' home. But it is an important place into which I must willingly and gallantly venture in the performance of my professional duties as a Home Inspector. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't relish the thought of being bitten by anything, really, but especially not a Brown Recluse spider. These spiders can be found in places other than crawl spaces. But it's usually there...in darkness and separated from the outside world, that I sometimes think about them (and other potential local hazards) and am usually in a heightened state of alert for any creature that might be observing me while I am making my observations...it's the things we don't see or hear that often impart the most fear in us, is it not?
So, why should you be concerned about Brown Recluse spiders? Because...they can be living with you in and around your home. The potential for you to come in contact with one is real. It's better to be educated and informed than...bitten! Agreed? Good!
How can you visually identify a Brown Recluse spider? A large Brown Recluse is something a bit larger in size than a penny. Typically, they are light to medium brown although they range in color from cream-colored to dark brown or a blackish-gray. Their most readily identifiable feature is the presence of a violin-shaped marking on their back with the neck of the violin pointing toward the rear of their body. It's this marking that has led to nicknames having been given the Recluse such as the "fiddle back spider" and the "violin spider". It is noteworthy that other spiders have similar markings, so such a marking is not absolutely reliable insofar as identification is concerned. Another distinguishing trait of the Brown Recluse is that it has three sets of two eyes, at the front of its head, for a total of six eyes; most spiders have eight eyes.
Are they indigenous to my part of the country? Brown Recluse spiders are native to the Midwest states such as Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio and south to the Gulf of Mexico. They are also found in Texas and east from there to Georgia and north to Kentucky. They are known to exist elsewhere as well, likely as the result of traveling along with humans in their travels [Authors note: I know they live in North Carolina because I've seen em'...the little buggers!]. For more information on the Brown Recluse in North Carolina, visit the website of the North Carolina Nature Center.
Will they try to attack me, or chase me? No, they will not. They don't seek out human contact and will only bite if they are disturbed, feel threatened, and are in contact with your skin. They can "jump" slightly if touched but this movement is based in avoidance rather than aggression.
Why are they potentially dangerous? Because they are venomous...poisonous. A bite from a Recluse will be very uncomfortable at the very best...and fatal at the very worst (although this is very, very rare). The majority of bites are not exceptionally serious but, as with many dangers, the very young, the elderly, and those with a compromised immune system are at the greatest risk for more severe complications.
Where might you find a Brown Recluse spider around my home? Recluse spiders like to reside in many of the same places you like to hang out within your home. They can be found in closets, garages, carports, basements, wood piles (well, maybe you don't hang out in your wood pile)...just about any location where it is reasonably dry and generally undisturbed. They can also be potentially found in shoes, gloves, behind base-boards, behind pictures, in the bedding of little used beds, in stacked or folded clothing, and in clothes that have been piled or placed on the floor. Many reported bites have been immediately after putting on clothes that have been lying on the floor or otherwise disturbing the spiders who have taken up residence in such isolated areas.
How might you know if you have been bitten by a Recluse? A bite may be readily apparent but this is not always the case. Some bites can go undetected for as much as 24 hours. Often, the bitten area begins to itch and be painful within 2 - 8 hours and these effects worsen and become more pronounced over the subsequent 12 to 36 hours. In extreme cases, the site of the bite can swell in size to 10 inches or more and the areas can become ulcerated and where skin tissue is actually destroyed (a condition medically described as necrosis for which there is no established treatment) and that can result in scarring of the skin. In very rare instances, the venomous bite can cause a systemic reaction (one that effects the entire body) where side-effects can include nausea, vomiting, muscle and joint pain, fever, and rashes.
So, what should you do if you know, or suspect, that you have been bitten by a Recluse? You should provide or seek proper medical care just as soon as you exhibit any local or systemic symptoms. Following prudence and common sense, as with the care of any injury or skin damage, the area should be cleaned and should be maintained in a clean, dry condition to every extent possible; every effort should be put forth to avoid infection. Something that can be done initially is to apply an ice pack to control swelling. Aloe-Vera can be applied to soothe the area and control pain. And, of course, you should seek professional medical attention. A tetanus shot may be prescribed. The offending spider could be carefully caught and saved in a jar or other container to provide evidence to medical staff but, again, the bites often go undetected so this may not be possible.
Since there are potentially serious medical consequences of having been bitten by a Brown Recluse spider, and since it is desirable to avoid such a bite, then the best defense is a good offense (to use an unrelated sports metaphor). The effective offense comes from being educated about the possibilities of a spider bite and in being informed about potential consequences and appropriate courses of action. It's important to know how to minimize the chance of an encounter with a Brown Recluse e.g. checking your shoes, gloves, and other clothing before putting them on and knowing where they like to hide out so that you can be more observant and cognizant regarding their potential presence. And...it's important to know what to do if you suspect that you may have been bitten.
As for myself...as I 'm crawlin' around under a house, I'll just hope that a snake has already eaten em'...or somethin'!

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_Gentry

The Brown Recluse Spider

2012-06-22T15:35:00.000-07:00

As the husband of a Brown Recluse bite victim, I know firsthand how frightening it can be to be bitten, how important it is to get educated about these spiders, and the need to be prepared for the unexpected.

The Brown Recluse Spider is so named because it is by nature, "reclusive." Because it likes to hide during the day in clothes, shoes, boxes and other out of the way places where bites are most likely to occur through unintentional contact, it is regarded by many as the most dangerous spider here the United States.

When a Brown Recluse spider bites, it is rarely due to aggression. Bites will usually occur because it is hiding out in your clothes and you put them on, or your hand has touched the spider when handling boxes, or you have rolled over them or unknowingly touched them while sleeping in your bed at night. Because Brown Recluses love to hide in boxes and clothes, they can hitch a ride almost anywhere in the United States. However, they are most commonly found south of a line stretching from Northern Nebraska to Northern Ohio.

Because they do scurry around at night, they are difficult to detect. One way to be sure they are not in your home is to install sticky spider traps in various places. Traps are economical and safer to use because no chemicals are sprayed in your home. And, according to Kansas University researchers, spider traps are an effective means of controlling their populations.

Brown Recluses are not affected by most pesticides and according to research, they can actually benefit by your use of them. In lab studies conducted at Kansas University, they have shown the Brown Recluse Spider's inclination to prefer dead prey over living ones. In fact, they can eat an insect killed by pesticides 24 hours prior and suffer no harmful effects.

Brown Recluse bites can develop very rapidly with necrosis starting to form in just a few hours after being bitten. This is because venom literally kills living tissue on contact. Quick response in the event of a bite wound, and finding ways to control their population are important to protecting yourself from these very dangerous spiders.

If you believe that you are bitten by a Recluse, examine the area very closely. Brown Recluse bites will almost invariably contain two small fang marks about 1/16th of an inch apart. The necrosis will begin at those fang marks and spread out into the surrounding tissue. The area will turn a bluish grey as the skin tissue dies, and eventually will slough away, producing an open ulcer. In some bite wounds, it may appear that someone has taken a scoop of flesh out of your body.

Systemic symptoms such as fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, sweating, joint pain, kidney failure and even coma are possible. However, most Brown Recluse bites do not have severe systemic symptoms. Those who are most in danger of severe reactions are the very young, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems.

Brown Recluse Spiders benefit from human population growth so it looks like this spider is here to stay. The best thing to do is be informed, and know what to do in case you are bitten.

Thomas J. Martincic is the designer, owner, and writer of the website http://www.brown-recluse.com/.

You can read more about these spiders, see pictures of bite wounds, view high resolution photos of the spider, and get some prevention tips by visiting the web site. 888-732-5873

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Martincic

Where Did All These Brown Recluse Spiders Come From

2012-06-22T01:19:00.000-07:00

Recluse: "shut off or apart from the world; living in seclusion."
That's what my dictionary says. I just checked.
So the brown recluse spider lives hidden away from everybody? I mean that word "recluse" is right there in the spider's name. I take that to mean it's a shy insect.
But you sure can't tell that based on my recent clean up activities.
Over the years I stacked stuff into my barn, and it just kept piling up in there, so I decided recently to launch a "cleanup and organize" effort. It's so bad that I discarded some of the stuff before I could even get into the door.
Ever done anything like that and got a big surprise (or scare) you weren't ready for?
I had a set of chrome wheels, two with old tires on them, stored out there for a number of years. Since they'd sat there so long I figured I'd never use them, and decided the time had come for them to go.
As I started taking the tire off one of them a whole herd of brown recluse spiders went scrambling, and sent me jumping backward away from that wheel.
My time as a pest control technician familiarized me so well with the way these pests look that I recognize them quickly.
Most people look at them and just see spiders. Brown recluse have distinctively long legs that I came to associate with the species, but I took a while of studying these spiders before I learned to identify them without looking for the fiddle outline on their backs.
Anyway, as I watched that wheel I saw a number of adult recluse spiders, and a whole swarm of babies, go scurrying.
I don't think I ever saw that many brown recluse spiders in one place before.
The first recluse spiders I saw as a newbie pest control technician were rather reclusive. That was over 10-years ago. As I walked up to the spot where they built their webs I'd catch a motion, and only get a quick glance at the spider.
Most every time the spider headed for cover as soon as it spotted me walking toward its home.
Back then, in my early days of pest control, I only suspected I'd found a recluse. Only further inspection verified the insect as a recluse spider, and often that closer inspection means you're too close if you're untrained and inexperienced in pest control techniques.
These days those spiders don't dart for hiding spots so fast anymore. Seems to me they get bolder all the time.
Maybe it's because there are so many of them around. In my early pest control days the company entomologist told me that people rarely seen brown recluse spiders in the Midwest. He said they didn't live here in very large numbers.
I found that claim was just not true. Once I learned to recognize the recluse I started seeing them too often for comfort, and now I see them every time I go into my barn. I've even found them in my house.
Probably the only reason I see so many is my trained ability to recognize them, and if I'd never worked as a pest control technician I wouldn't know that I have brown recluse. Might be I'd never have a problem with them, but sometimes I get awful close to these insects, and if I didn't know what they are I'd get even close enough to get bit.
That's a scary thought.
I suggest if you're planning a cleaning job of your own in an area that sat cluttered for a year or more you take some special precautions.
Study some pictures of brown recluse spiders to get used to what they look like, and make sure you wear gloves when you perform your cleaning task. They can't bite through a good thick glove.
Be careful of brown recluse spiders when you're cleaning items from collected piles. They have a real nasty bite.
Joseph Jackson is an experienced pest control technician and author of SPIDER RIDDANCE, a how to guide for performing do-it-yourself pest control for controlling spiders.

Find other pest control ebooks by Joe at http://www.bugsmiceratsnomore.com

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Jackson

The Cool Summer Kept Insect Numbers Down But Nobody Told the Brown Recluse Spider to Stop Breeding

2012-06-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

We made it to the middle of September without the usual hordes of insects around my yard. Although I notice the mosquitoes still attack in large enough numbers in the evenings that their population growth didn't suffer much from the cooler summer.

Even efforts to keep water from pooling in the drainage ditch at a minimum seem ineffective against those guys. I guess there's just no stopping them, they're almost as stubborn as I am.

I got lucky with the ants this year though. I only had one incident of ant presence in my kitchen. I seen them streaming into the trashcan one day. I don't know what attracted them, but they sure liked something in that trash. As soon as I emptied the contents that invasion stopped.

The usual invading pests didn't bother me much. In fact I haven't seen any pill bugs or centipedes this year. That's unusual here in Indiana, and the numbers of flies buzzing around my head was fewer than I'm used to. Sometimes the blowflies stray into my office on a daily basis, trying to drive me crazy as they make their pestering runs between the computer screen and me.

I do have a big situation with brown recluse spiders. They started appearing in my house a couple years ago, and I'm fighting a constant war keeping control over them.

I remember when the headline news articles about recluse spiders always came out of the western United States. Reporters here in Indiana always said we didn't need fear bites from brown recluse because we didn't have any of these spiders here.

Every time I go into my storage barn I run across a recluse. I initially noticed them last spring when I pulled the mower out to cut the grass for the first time this year. They went scurrying for cover as soon as I opened that door.

I sprayed that day, and I know I decreased their numbers, but next time I went into the barn I felt like they'd hatched out a whole new horde of baby spiders, because they seemed everywhere again.

After I did a pest control inspection I realized the recluse I saw did include some new hatchlings, but I didn't see many of them until I moved something. The spiders that lived behind, and under, stored items escaped earlier treatment because the item blocked the spray, and it didn't reach them.

There's a lot of stuff in that barn, so I had a summer long battle fighting brown recluse spiders because every time I picked something up in the barn I found another one or two of them. Kept me on my toes keeping from getting bit. You gotta keep a constant watch for them rascals - they're sneaky.

If you have an out building where you store a lot of stuff be careful when you move things around. You might find some unwelcome guests hiding in there.

I recommend you wear some good thick work gloves. Those brown recluse spiders have nasty bites, but their fangs don't pierce through thick leather.

Joseph Jackson is an experienced pest control technician and author of SPIDER RIDDANCE, a how to guide for performing do-it-yourself pest control for controlling spiders, and other how to do-it-yourself pest control techniques found at BUG RIDDANCE, Mice And Rats, Too!

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Jackson

Is That a Brown Recluse Spider in the Corner of Your Ceiling

2012-06-21T20:43:00.009-07:00

Brown recluse spiders seem so abundant these days that you see them building webs all over your home, and most people have no idea that the spider they're looking at is a recluse.
Spiders are spiders - right?
When I first started working as a pest control technician I had no idea what a brown recluse looked like. Oh, I knew they have a fiddle shaped marking on their backs, but you must get really close to the spider before you can recognize that mark.
If you get that close you're a whole bunch closer than safety demands.
My first month as a technician I worked with another tech as a trainee, visiting a number of customers, and learning how to inspect and treat for pests. My instructor, and the pest control company's resident entomologist, told me that brown recluse spiders were no threat here in Indiana.
The truth soon proved otherwise, and luck was with me when I learned that truth.
During my training period I studied local pests and their habits, and one book I read had pictures of brown recluse. I gave them no more than glancing looks, but those short glances anchored a fuzzy picture in my mind that set an alarm off the first time I actually did see a recluse in one of my customer's buildings.
It was in the basement area of a major hospital that I made my first recluse sighting. As I looked at the spider moving around its web something about the legs seemed familiar. To me a brown recluse's legs are distinctive; they are very long and slender. I remember thinking at the time, "That looks like those pictures I seen of brown recluse spiders."
I caught that spider on a glue board, took it back to the company with me, and had a look at it through a microscope that evening. Sure enough a violin shape was on that spiders back.
From that moment on I had a definite, and permanent, picture of the brown recluse legs in my head. That's a picture that never faded, I see it as clear today as I did that day - almost 10-years ago.
That picture saved me from a number of bites over the years.
One time I opened a small box, looked in, and seen what I thought was a set of those legs scurrying for cover. I dropped the box, put a glue board in it, and used a long tool to move the items inside around. A few moments later I had two brown recluse spiders trapped on that glue board. A few feet further along the wall I opened another box to spot another recluse in residence. I got that one on a glue board too.
If you see spider webs around your home, be careful about approaching them. Brown recluse spiders are everywhere these days. I've found them in my bathtub, and often in my storage barn.
Find some pictures of these spiders; familiarize yourself with how their legs look. Get a picture of those legs fixed in your mind well enough that you at least recognize a potential brown recluse if you see one.
Don't take a chance on getting too close to these spiders. Their poisonous bites leave you with some nasty wounds that won't heal soon, and sometimes spread through your body.
When you think you see one understand that he probably has a family. You probably must treat your whole home to minimize infestation.
Joseph Jackson is an experienced pest control technician and author of SPIDER RIDDANCE a how to guide for performing do-it-yourself pest control for controlling spiders.

If you want a more complete how to book for do-it-yourself pest control see BUG RIDDANCE, Mice And Rats Too!

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Jackson

Do You Recognize A Brown Recluse Spider When You See One

2012-06-21T20:43:00.007-07:00

If you're familiar with the brown recluse spider he's an easy pest to recognize. But to most of us a spider is a spider. Some are skinny; some are fat, some big, and some small.
I know I had no idea what a brown recluse looked like before my pest control technician days.
Developing the ability to know when a spider is a recluse is a talent I learned fast when I got that pest control job. And many times I found myself very happy for that fast learning experience.
Do you know that the adult recluse grows no longer than a half-inch? See this word "brown" here? It's in size ten-text font, and it won't fit into a half-inch wide text box. The adult recluse is shorter than that word. And the body is very narrow. In fact the body itself is normally not the first thing you see when you look at this bug.
This insect's legs are very long. When you place this spider inside that box I mentioned above those legs stick outside the box's borders.
The legs of the recluse are the first things I learned to identify. They're distinctive as far as spiders go. They come upward from the body at an angle close to forty-five degrees, and then bend back toward the ground sharply.
Brown recluse spiders come in different shades of brown also. Some are dark brown, but others are lighter shades of brown ranging all the way to the same color as your skin.
The most certain way you know if a spider is a recluse is when you see that violin, or fiddle, shape on its back. The bottom of the violin points toward the spider's head, with the fiddle's neck pointing toward the rear end. The violin shape is a darker brown than the rest of the body, and easy to see once you get close enough to the spider to actually see it.
Of course when you get that close you're way too close if the spider is still alive. I don't recommend identifying a live recluse that way.
This spider has a nasty bite. Its venom is highly poisonous, and once it enters your body that venom starts eating your flesh away. Most of the time you won't feel that bite, if you do it's a mild stick. Thing is, soon the spot where the spider bites you starts turning red, and the pain begins. An hour or so later the skin starts dissolving.
The recluse spider only bites when you disturb it. When you touch the nest the spider feels vibration along the web strands, and thinks food. It runs out to bite the food to numb it, and then realizes it just bit something too big for it to eat. And the spider runs away.
Or the spider lives inside some rarely worn article of clothing or shoes. When you put them on you disturb the spider, and he bites. Again he's thinking food, or perhaps self-defense.
If you want to learn how to recognize these insects study some pictures of them. Note the legs especially, and get the look of them fixed in your head. When you know a recluse by its legs you won't need to get close enough for it to bite you.
Brown recluse spiders live all over the place. I recommend you learn how to recognize them, and learn how to properly treat for them.
This spider does eat flying insects, keeping those pests from bugging you. But the brown recluse is not a spider that you really want to share your home with.
Joseph Jackson is an experienced pest control technician and author of SPIDER RIDDANCE a how to guide for performing do-it-yourself pest control for controlling spiders.

Find other pest control ebooks by Joe at http://www.bugsmiceratsnomore.com

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Jackson

Controlling Brown Recluse Spiders

2012-06-21T20:43:00.005-07:00

Brown recluse spiders are common in many households, although some people erroneously suspect other types of spiders to be the brown recluse spider. Brown recluse is classified as a species of recluse spiders. They are also known as violin spiders or fiddleback spiders. It belongs to the family of Loxosceles reclusa. Its common name, brown recluse, is taken from its color and attitude. It is reclusive, always trying to keep away from society and always seeking seclusion.
In the U.S., this spider, along with the other members of the Loxosceles species, are very common. They are commonly found in the Midwestern area of the country all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. In some cases, the Mediterranean recluse - from the Loxosceles rufescens family - were sighted in some areas, including Arkansas and Hawaii. It has the same characteristics as the native recluse, and perhaps the same venom dangers as well.
The dark violin mark is obvious in mature brown recluses, and with the neck pointing to its abdomen. Their abdomen has the same color, either dark brown or light tan. It has a velvety appearance due to its fine hairs that cover its body. The legs are thin, long and brown, and also covered with hair. Male recluse's body are smaller than females, but their legs are longer. Both male and female are poisonous. The young recluse looks almost the same as adult brown recluses, except that it is smaller and lighter in color. Unlike other spiders that have eight eyes, the brown recluse spiders have six eyes, which are placed by pairs. This can be seen by using a microscope or hand lens. To be able to find out what species the spider came from, you need to examine the spider's genitals through a high-powered microscope. This is usually done by a skillful spider expert.
Recluse spiders lay eggs from the month of May all the way through July. Usually, females produce 50 eggs covered in a white sac, which is about.75 inch in diameter. The female brown recluse may lay many egg sacs for several months. The baby spiders will come out of the egg sac after a month. Their growth is slow depending on food accessibility or weather conditions. It normally takes a year from the time that they emerged from the sac before they reach adulthood. The life span of an adult brown recluse ranges from one year to two years. They can support themselves and live for six months with no water and food.
These spiders create a web with loose, sticky, irregular, and light colored threads. This will serve as their daily residence, and is usually built in a corner with no disturbance or interference. At night, they search around to look for insects to serve as their prey. Research shows that brown recluses are actually scavengers - they prefer eating dead insects. Adult male brown recluses also wander around searching for female recluses.
Brown recluse spiders prefer areas that are undisturbed and dark, whether outdoor or indoor. Inside the house, they typically stay in basements, attics, cellars, crawl spaces, closets, and duct works. They can also hide inside shoe boxes, storage boxes, shoes, furniture, clothes, and empty walls. Outside the house, they tend to reside in storage sheds, garages, gardens, and barns. They also stay beneath logs, rock piles, and firewood.
Brown recluse spiders do not bite unprovoked. They usually only harm people when they feel they are being attacked, crushed, or disturbed. They are not typically aggressive. They may also bite you if you have accidentally touched or moved them. Spiders that hide in clothes may also harm people while wearing the clothes.
Controlling an infestation of brown recluses in your home may take some time. Seeking pest control services will help in effectively controlling and remove these spiders from the house. To prevent spider bites, check your clothes and shoes before putting them on. Make sure also that your bedding and towels have no spiders before using them. Wear protective gears like gloves when cleaning in the basement or attic, and while handling lumber and firewood. Remove clutter in areas under the bed, furniture, and in the basement and attic.

Using a pest id guide will help you determine what kind of insect you are dealing with. Pest control for food services will help food processing companies keep pests out of our food.

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_T._McCoy

Brown Recluse Spider Tips to Avoid Them and Keep That Spider Outside

2012-06-21T20:43:00.003-07:00

Seeing spiders in your home is an unsettling thing. It's not something you dwell on until you pick up a shirt off the floor to put in the laundry and a big ugly spider jumps down to the floor and runs away. The natural response is to scream and jump away. Every hair on your body stands on its ends. Suddenly you see every teeny tiny creature that you might not have noticed before and you feel like they are crawling all over your body. It can take days to get over an incident like that. You find yourself shaking out your pants before you put them on and looking in every box before you stick your hand in it. When really, these should probably be regular practices.

Many spider are harmless, but on of the most dangerous is the brown recluse spider. They are called the brown recluse, because they like to hide out during the day. Hence the name recluse.

They generally occupy dark and undisturbed areas. They can be found indoors or outdoors. Indoors they are commonly found in attics, basements, crawl spaces, cellars, closets, and heater vents. They will find a storage box, shoe, clothing, folded linens, or even your sheets to hide. Outdoors they like to live under logs, loose stones and stacks of lumber. They are not aggressive spiders by nature. Some common ways people have been bitten is by rolling over one in your bed while sleeping, touching one accidentally while cleaning out your storage area or putting on an old pair of shoes that a brown recluse spider has made a home in.

Preventing Spider Bites

There are steps to avoid getting a bite from a brown recluse spider.

1. Shake out clothing and shoes before getting dressed.

2. Inspect bedding and towels before use.

3. Wear gloves when picking up firewood, lumber, and rocks, but be sure to check the gloves for spiders first.

4. Bed skirts are nice looking, but they are great for spiders to crawl up.

5. Move the bed away from the wall slightly.

6. Storage under the bed are handy, but they make a great dark place for brown recluse spiders to live.

7. Be careful when picking up cardboard boxes. Recluse spiders like to hide under the folded cardboard flaps.

Keep Spiders Out

The best way to avoid brown recluse spider bites is to keep them outside and away from your house.

1. Windows and doors must be tight-fitting. Door sweeps are a must.

2. Use seal or caulk cracks that the spider can use to get into your house.

3. Your lights outside can attract bugs and spiders like to eat bugs. So the best kind of light bulbs are yellow or sodium vapor light bulbs. They attract less bugs.

4. Seal off the edges of your cardboard boxes to keep the spider out or use plastic bags that can seal to store things in your garage, basement and attic.

5. Get rid of trash, old boxes, old clothing, wood piles, rock piles, and other things you don't want.

6. Clean your closets out. Throw away and organize them.

Move your wood away from the side of the house. Stack it as far away as you can.

7. Brown recluse prefer to eat dead insects, so clean them up as soon as you notice them.

This is the best defense with the brown recluse spider. You have the knowledge and know how, now you just have to put these practices into place. Whether you have brown recluse or not, this will help with all spiders and you might just have an organized house as a bonus. So put you gloves on and get to work!

She is a mother of 5 children, ranging from 15 mo. up to 18 yrs. She is the author of a variety of articles about family life and all it's craziness. She has a whole website about spider safety, if you would like more information, visit:

Are Brown Recluse Spiders Hiding in Your Home

2012-06-21T20:43:00.001-07:00

How much do you know about the spider? How reclusive are they, do you think?

Let me be totally honest about that title question up there. Brown recluse spiders don't hide from us anymore. They're rather brazen these days, and weave their webs right out in the open.

Back when I first started working as a pest control technician I knew absolutely zero about brown recluse spiders other than the fact that they carried a fiddle shaped marking on their back.

I didn't know a brown recluse spider from a violin.

I asked the company entomologist if brown recluse spiders lived in the Indianapolis area, because news articles said they only lived in southwestern states. But sometimes I don't trust the news media all that much.

That bug guy told me that he'd found a few recluse spiders, but only in the basements of the city's larger buildings, and even then only in very dark corners where people hardly ever went.

I took him for his word, and, since part of my job as a pest tech included visiting those very dark corners I looked at some pictures of brown recluse trying to familiarize my brain with what they look like.

Wasn't long before I realized those picture studies were well worth the effort - and that sudden realization came not in a deep, dark corner, but in a brightly lit, well traveled area.

Many warehouses have rodent problems, and to keep the mouse population down we used cardboard boxes with little round holes through their ends. Inside those bait boxes (that's what we called them) we put a glue board, laying flat, or a couple blocks of mouse poison.

One day I serviced the warehouse of a major Indianapolis hospital. This particular building housed all of the hospital's stored paper medical records and patient charts. The workers in the warehouse organized the records, filed them on stacks of shelves that covered the warehouse floor, and pulled records back out when doctors or nurses requested to see them.

I walked up the loading dock stairs, through the door into the warehouse, and picked up a bait box that sat on the floor next to that door. I opened the box up, and movement caught my eye. As my vision focused in on the source of that movement a clanging bell sound set off in my head.

...I dropped that box and jumped away from it just as fast as I jumped out of that old corvette I owned every time I failed to step far enough away from the door as I got out of the car - and my leg touched against the hot side pipe.

That movement was a brown recluse spider, my subconscious recognized it, and warned me to get away, even though my conscious mind took its time realizing what I looked at.

I got out a glue board, put it into the box, coaxed that spider onto the board, trapping the spider, and as I did another recluse jumped out at me from behind the bait block.

I captured the second spider too.

I didn't see my life pass before my eyes that day. But I did check my pants to make sure they were still clean.

Since then I found brown recluse in my bathroom, and in my office. Only because I studied those pictures when I first became a pest control technician can I recognize these spiders as recluse. Even then I only suspect, not until I see that fiddle shape am I truly sure. Of course, if you get close enough to see that violin while this spider is living, you're way too close.

That warehouse visit was the moment when I understood that brown recluse spiders aren't really all that reclusive.

Joseph Jackson is an experienced pest control technician and author of SPIDER RIDDANCE, a how to guide for performing do-it-yourself pest control for controlling spiders.

Find other pest control ebooks by Joe at http://www.bugsmiceratsnomore.com

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Jackson