According to an online article by Susan Welch, a Missouri home with prime views of the third and fourth holes at a local Country Club has an unusual pest problem. The home was infested with between 4,500 and 6,000 spiders. Brown recluse spiders to be exact! The previous owners finally jumped ship after years of pesticide treatments had failed to take care of the problem.

Bought in 2007, the new owners began noticing evidence of the spiders soon after moving in. The homeowner was walking through her new home when she noticed a large stringy web around one of the light fixtures that had not been there the day they looked at the house. She also found webs in the bar area, in the basement, and in the kitchen; and when she tugged on a piece of wallpaper, a spider disappeared behind it.

In the following days, the new owners saw spiders every day in the mini blinds, the registers, the pantry ceiling, and the fireplace. Exoskeletons were falling from lights and spiders were showing up everywhere including in the shower where the homeowner had one nearly fall on her from the ceiling. When her four-year-old son saw a spider in the basement the size of a half dollar, they trapped it and looked it up on the internet. It was a brown recluse!

In the following months, they did everything they could to rid the house of spiders, but to no avail; they just kept coming. Exterminators were hired and a company came and replaced insulation. Finally, the family was forced to admit defeat and move out of the home.

Why it is important to protect against spiders.

While the above story is extremely unusual, spider infestations do happen. It is important to know the signs and important to keep spiders out of your home. If you are noticing spider webs or seeing spiders, here are some things you can do to deter more spiders from coming in:

• Keep your house as neat and clean as possible. This will give spiders fewer places to hide.

• Seal up all gaps and cracks on the outside of your home to keep spiders from getting inside.

• Remove vegetation from the perimeter of your residence, trimming back shrubs and trees that spiders can use as ladders.

• Keep outdoor lights off. Flying insects are attracted to lights and spiders are attracted to flying insects.Bring out the big guns. If you are seeing more than a single spider daily, call in a professional to take a look.

If you are serious about keeping spiders out of your home or are already seeing them and want to eliminate them, give us a call. Here at Rottler Pest & Lawn Solutions, our trained pest professionals know how to rid your home of spiders, and a whole host of other household pests, so you can rest easy. Don't let your home be overrun with spiders, get help today.