The Best Way To Get Rid Of Spiders In Your Fort Lauderdale Home

Spiders are creepy. They crawl around in our landscaping. They crawl around in our gardens. They leave webs for us to walk through (face first). Of course, here in our Fort Lauderdale service area, we have venomous spiders. These are spiders that have venom strong enough to present a medical threat to humans. If you'd like to have fewer spiders in your yard (and even fewer spiders getting into your home), the best way to achieve this goal is to understand why spiders come into your yard and find their way indoors.

This may come as no surprise but spiders enter your yard to find a bite to eat. One of the things they love to eat most is insects. They like the ones that fly. They like the ones that crawl around on the ground. They'll even eat the ones that live under the ground. If you reduce the number of insects in your yard, you can reduce the number of spiders.

Why This Works

When you get control of the conditions that can inspire lots of insects to live in your yard, it will result in fewer spiders. Obviously, you'll never have a yard that is free of insect activity, nor would you want this. The goal isn't to get rid of every insect. A reduction of insects is enough to keep spiders from establishing themselves in your yard, and it reduces the chances that a spider will find a way into your home by accident. This is what they do. They don't see your home from a distance and think, "Boy, would I love to live in that thing." They crawl around on the outside in search of food, and climb into holes, cracks, and gaps they happen upon.

What An Insect Wants

• Light: Many insects are attracted to light. They are particularly drawn to white light. Keep lights off and keep shades drawn at night. If you need to have a light on, consider replacing white bulbs with bulbs that cast yellow light.
• Trash: Many insects are drawn to the scent of decaying organic matter. If you have a trash bin that has developed an odor, you're going to bring insects into your yard. Disinfect your trash bins to remove this attractive odor. You'll also want to make sure your bins have covers.
• Honeydew: Your plants will draw insects into your yard. There isn't much you can do about that. But an unhealthy plant is even more of an attractant for some insects. These insects can be food for spiders, but they can also produce honeydew—a sweet and desirable food source derived from plant sap.
• Vegetation: The more vegetation you have, the more insects you'll have. If you remove weeds and other unnecessary vegetation, it helps to reduce insects.
• Water: Every living thing needs water. If you have conditions that cause puddles to form near your home, you'll attract insects, invertebrates, and spiders themselves.

General Spider Management Tips

Once you've taken time to reduce the food that spiders desire, there are a few more things you need to do to make your yard, and the exterior of your home, resistant to spider encroachment.

• Webs: If you have webs around your home, those webs aren't just an eyesore. They may have eggs in them. A single web can have 300 eggs in it. That's a lot of spiders waiting to hatch. Remove the webs to suppress spider populations.
• Habitats: There are many spiders that hide in the voids of objects in your yard. This might be an object you've stored in the backyard, a stack of construction materials, piles of organic debris, etc. Yard work and decluttering can go a long way toward reducing spiders.
• Hitchhikers: Spiders can find their way into your home without ever going through your yard. They can be inside used furniture, boxes that have been taken out of a storage shed, etc. Examine objects before you bring them into your home.