A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE SPIDER CONTROL FOR YOUR AIKEN PROPERTY

They appear on the wall while you're watching television. They appear in the upper corners of your bathroom. They startle you when you grab items out of storage. They create webs between your windows and your window screens and taunt you as you do the dishes. They cause you to wake up in the morning with a firm, red welt on your finger. They surprise you with a bite on the side of your foot while relaxing on your deck. Can you think of some specific ways spiders have had an impact on you? Most of the time, we don't pay much attention to spiders until they bug us. But that isn't the best time to deal with them. It is far better to take a proactive approach to spiders. Here is your step-by-step guide to effective spider control in Aiken.

Step One: Understand You Have A Problem

Before we get to our first preventative step, it is important to understand why spider prevention is so important. Obviously, preventing bites from black widows, brown recluses, and yellow sac spiders is a good reason. These spiders can cause bites that can have an impact on your health. But perhaps the most important reason to proactively prevent spiders is that you'll be making your Aiken property more resistant to a wide variety of other pests. Why? Because the key to spider prevention is the removal of their food sources and, if you're not aware, spiders eat bugs.

Step Two: Moisture Control

It is amazing how attractive a moist perimeter is to bugs and the spiders that eat them. Unfortunately, most homes have a moist perimeter. The perimeters of our homes have grass or landscape vegetation. 

Here are some tips for reducing moisture buildup:

• It is good for water to get into the soil and give your plants a drink. What is not good is when moisture saturates the ground and sits overnight. We strongly recommend watering your plants in the early morning to allow the sun to dry the moisture up during the day.
• Airflow is important for the drying of topsoil. Make sure you have space between your plants and keep your bushes and shrubs trimmed.
• Vegetation can capture moisture. Remove weeds and other unwanted vegetation to reduce moisture.
• Leaves can trap moisture underneath. Keep leaves raked up to reduce pest activity.
• A clogged gutter can lead to a saturated perimeter. Make sure your gutter system is clean and working the way it should.

Step Three: Light Control

Many insects are attracted to light. If you have lots of lights around the outside of your home, you'll have higher insect populations. 

This will inevitably lead to higher spider populations.

• Keep lights off when you're not using them.
• Keep lights off in areas where it is not a security concern.
• Keep shades and curtains drawn at night.
• Replace white lights with yellow lights. Yellow light is less attractive.

Step Four: Trash Management

The smell of trash can lure many pests into your yard. 

It is important to properly manage your trash to reduce bugs and prevent spiders from setting up a web near your home, or inside your garage:

• Keep your trash bags in a sealed or covered container.
• Make sure your trash receptacles are secure and can't be knocked over by an animal.
• Keep your receptacles clean to remove the smell.
• Have the trash removed from your receptacles weekly to reduce the smell of rotting organic matter. The longer it sits, the smellier it gets.

Step Five: Remove Harborage

Have you ever noticed a spider web in a cinder block, old tire, or woodpile? Spiders hide in the objects we have in our yards. The fewer objects you have in your yard, the better. If you have objects that don't need to be in your yard, get rid of them to reduce spider activity.

Step Six: Web Removal

One web can have hundreds of eggs in it. If you see spider webs, be sure to remove them quickly to prevent the eggs from turning into lots of little spiders.

If you do these steps, you'll reduce spider activity around your home and reduce the number of spiders trying to get into your home. This can have a big impact. It may even reduce your interior sightings to zero. But, the best way to prevent spiders from getting in is to invest in a residential pest control program that includes barrier treatments and spider web removal. This is where we can help. 

Contact Aiken Pest Control today to get your protection in place. Having routine visits from a licensed pest control professional will give you the best protection possible.