In Focus
The war against spiders rages on.
Just when I thought it was over, I realized...no such luck. They moved from my upstairs to the downstairs.
The cats are still useless in my fight against the spiders. I had to move my calico Latte, as she sat on one, so I could squish it. I’ve seen about four more spiders roaming around since my last update. They are all the same species.
I decided to look up what kind of spider I was dealing with.
It turns out I am dealing with Parson Spiders. They are described as “wickedly fast” which I can attest to. This is the part that got me...“The Parson Spider does not spin a web to catch prey. It is part of the Ground Spider family. Instead, it roams the ground and walls, usually at night, searching for insects to eat. It is an ambush predator, running up to and quickly biting insects it comes across. During the day, a Parson Spider takes cover under rocks, boards and other debris. It is typically a woodland spider but sometimes ventures indoors and is frequently seen in homes and buildings.”
No wonder I couldn’t find its evil lair. It doesn’t have one.
“The Parson Spider’s venom is not lethal. This particular species has a bite that has caused an allergic reaction in some people. It does not infest homes, so some people leave it alone, letting it do its thing. Many people shoo it back outside to return it to its natural habitat.”
I’m calling BS on that last part. And apparently they move inside to try to find a place to hibernate for the winter. Seriously, my home is not the Spider Inn!
A caller suggested I pick up some hedge balls. While I’m appreciative of the suggestion, these things just don’t work...at least not for me they haven’t.
I know many people swear by this weird bumpy green fruit to repel spiders. I have yet to see them actually work. I have tried them previously. Within a week, the fruit thing started leaking all over the place. I cleaned up the mess and tried a new one. I put it in a small bowl this time. Another week passed and I checked on this supposed magical ball. It leaked again and caved in on itself. It was rotting and smelled putrid. Even better yet...the spiders had made a web around it and made an egg sack inside the hedge ball.
It seemed to me to be more like a spider attractant!
I came across a study from the University of Iowa. They, too, found the hedge balls or “Osage Orange” didn’t do anything in the fight against spiders. But they did help repel mosquitoes and cockroaches when there were large amounts of hedge balls in small spaces.
I hope they work for you which is great. But in my experience, they are just a messy waste of time. I will stick to the method that is working for me...seek and destroy!
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