Jill posted a comment about the black widow spiders I wrote about and I'm answering it here.
Jill: I've never heard of black widows coming in the house like that, and being in plain sight. I have never had pest control come inside our home, but if I ever saw even one black widow inside I would be calling them. Ants I can handle, ear wigs, most other spiders, but not black widows. Sounds like you must have a nest somewhere in your house. Please keep us updated on these.
Gard'n Judy: It is kind of creepy. I think I have solved the problem,
though. Both rooms have sliding glass doors. At the top of both stationary doors, there are 3/4" openings. Both doors are next to the patio cover which is an extension of the roof. The extension has a lot of gaps and we have a wasp's nest in there, so I know there is enough room for the spiders. Over the years, during warm weather we have had the occasional wasp in the house, mostly in the bedroom. We must have had a good year for black widows, and with winter coming, they are looking for a better place to live. I stuffed the openings on both stationary glass doors with cotton balls and haven't seen a spider since! I didn't realize there were openings where these critters were getting in until I was desperate and finally located the holes.
This morning I went out to clean our pool, and found a black widow spider living in the center of a plastic pool ring that our grandkids left in the pool. In the picture below, you can see her at the 1 o'clock area of the inside of the ring.
She was just floating along with the ring, seemingly happy with her new home. That didn't last long--I showed my husband and that was the end of that!
though. Both rooms have sliding glass doors. At the top of both stationary doors, there are 3/4" openings. Both doors are next to the patio cover which is an extension of the roof. The extension has a lot of gaps and we have a wasp's nest in there, so I know there is enough room for the spiders. Over the years, during warm weather we have had the occasional wasp in the house, mostly in the bedroom. We must have had a good year for black widows, and with winter coming, they are looking for a better place to live. I stuffed the openings on both stationary glass doors with cotton balls and haven't seen a spider since! I didn't realize there were openings where these critters were getting in until I was desperate and finally located the holes.
We have been invaded by big black widow spiders the last week or so. There were three in our bedroom (one each of three consecutive days), and four in our living room. So far no one has been bitten, but the spiders in the bedroom have been very close to where I sleep! Today I came home from the market and found this one on the inside of our screen door. She is the largest one that I have ever seen. Normally, we use a plastic cup and a large index card to take the spiders outside and then step on them, but this one was too big--it gave me the willies, which is unusual. I got the vacuum out and sucked her up, did a little more vacuuming, and then took the vacuum bag and put it in a plastic bag. I closed the bag with a twist tie and threw the whole thing in the trash bin outside. We have always had a few these spiders around, but generally they stay outside and are a lot smaller. They tend to hide in places that are not disturbed, so it has been strange that they have been in plain sight inside the house. We have found them on the middle of walls and on the room-side of drapes. Maybe a bad winter is around the corner and they are coming in to keep warm. Whatever it is, I don't like it at all!
