How To Avoid Spider Bites

Out of the many spider species out there, only two of them infest the home and have dangerous enough bites to land you in the hospital. These two species are the black widow and the brown recluse. The good news is that these two species are shy, and that they only bite in self-defense. The bad news is that you can put them in a self-defense situation quite easily, and often by mistake. Here is how you can avoid spider bites:

Why spider bites happen

To start, we need to understand how these bites occur. Spiders love dark nooks and crannies, so they will often hide in shoes, clothes and even bed linens. Since these spiders only bite in self-defense, and more exactly, they only bite when they are pressed against, if you put on your shoes or go into bed and put pressure on a spider that is hiding there, you are likely to get bit.

How to avoid spider bites

So now that we know why these bites happen, let’s take a look at how we can avoid them. Let’s start with the bed. You want to keep some distance between the bed and the wall, and you want to make sure that there is no clutter under the bed. Clutter provides shelter for spiders just as much as clothing does, so the less you have in your home, the lower the chances of an infestation.

When it comes to clothing and bed linens, if you keep them folded and you shake them out before using them, you will lower the odds of a spider hiding inside them. The same goes for shoes – pick them up and bang them before putting them on.

Storage areas are another vector for spider bites. Brown recluses in particular like to hide under folded cardboard flaps and under boxes. If you have to rummage through the items you have stored, or carry boxes, you can vacuum them before you begin. You also want to remove any clutter that you have in these areas of the home, and it’s best if you use plastic lidded containers for storage.

Getting rid of spiders

One of the best ways to protect yourself against these dangerous bites is to hire a pest control pro to perform an inspection and then install an exclusionary perimeter inside and around the home using residual insecticides. These insecticides will prevent spiders and many other insects from entering the building. If you would like to know more about the control and prevention options that you have at your disposal when you hire a pest control company, contact us today.