Preventing Venomous Spiders From Invading Homes In Greater Houston
Are you familiar with the venomous spiders of Texas? If not, it is definitely time for an introduction. A run-in with a venomous spider can have serious repercussions. Brown recluse spiders have a venom that can cause necrosis and lead to a disfiguring wound. Black widow spiders can cause severe flu-like symptoms. But the threat these spiders pose is not what you need to know most. Knowing that a venomous spider can hurt you doesn't do anything to protect you. What you need to know is how these spiders get into homes in Greater Houston. Here's how it works.
How Venomous Spiders Get In
Venomous spiders prefer to be near the ground and will establish themselves in spots that are low to the ground. This is because they eat bugs and other critters that live under the ground or crawl on top of the ground. If you want to keep these spiders out of your home, you need to seal low entry points such as gaps around the frames of basement doors and windows and gaps in weather stripping on doors.
When insects and rodents chew on the wood of a home they can create holes that are big enough for spiders to get in through. These holes will usually be in secluded locations that are high in moisture. Voids under decks, porches, patios, and stairwells can be dark and damp enough for exposed wood to rot and become a target for wood-damaging pests. You might have to get dirty to find the entry points. Be careful to use a flashlight and check for venomous spiders if you have to get into these areas during your search.
Venomous spiders can also hitchhike into a home. When they get into stored boxes, they can sometimes be carried from one location to another. Always be cautious when opening a box that has come from storage, especially an external storage space such as a shed or barn.
The Bug Connection
Since bugs are a food source for these spiders, reducing bugs around your home can reduce your chances of having a spider infestation. Here are some tips to make your foundation perimeter less buggy:
Address any conditions that allow standing water or moisture. Clean out clogged gutters and fix broken gutters. Repair leaking spigots or hoses. Stow objects away that capture rainwater.
Shade can promote dampness. Trim tree branches and space out plants in your landscaping to allow the sunlight in and to provide airflow between your plants.
Make sure your exterior trash is in sealed containers.
If you have exterior light fixtures with white bulbs, consider replacing those white bulbs with yellow, insect-resistant bulbs. Black widows are known to eat flies and flies are drawn to light. Also, consider keeping your shade drawn at night to reduce fly populations around your home.
Move brush piles, stacked wood, leaves, and other organic material away from your foundation walls. These are common hiding places for bugs and the spiders that eat them.
Consider placing bird feeders away from your exterior walls. Birds can bring ticks into your yard and spiders eat ticks. Ticks will also ride into your yard on wild animals. Anything you can do to prevent wildlife traffic will have an impact on ticks and fleas.
Many bugs will prefer a yard with tall grass. Keep on top of grass trimming if you want to reduce bugs.
The Best Solution For Venomous Spiders
There is an ecosystem around your home. It's bug eat bug out there. The best way to reduce them all is with ongoing with a pest control service in Houston, TX, Modern Pest control a trusted pest control provider. If you live in the Greater Houston area, the team here at Modern Pest Control can give you the support you need. We offer three powerful residential pest control packages to get you started: Modern Plus, Signature, and Signature Plus.
Modern Plus is our basic program but it is anything but basic. It will address all of the core pests we deal with in Houston. When you step up to Signature you add termite control with the award-winning Sentricon® System to safeguard your equity from destructive subterranean termites. One more step up gives you seasonal mosquito reduction services. Mosquitoes are a growing threat and no Greater Houston home should be without this essential protection.
For more information about our residential services or to schedule a free inspection, reach out to us today. The Houston pest management, a QuailtyPro-Certifed team here at Modern Pest Control is standing by to help.