Most of us don’t want to find spiders in our homes. These eight-legged creatures are the stuff of many people’s nightmares. However, they’re not generally a problem when you’re only seeing them every once in a while. In fact, having spiders in the house is kind of like having free pest control. If you do find spiders in your home, here’s what you should do: 

Understand Spiders

While spiders can be unpleasant to find in the home, they play very important roles in the ecosystem. Spiders are primary predators that eat many types of insects. They also act as a food source for many types of animals. Despite their reputation, most spiders aren’t venomous. 

Having them in your home can generally benefit you if you don’t mind seeing them once in a while. However, when you start to see a lot of them, it’s a sign that there’s plenty for them to eat—which means you probably have another infestation. 

Focus on Prevention

Keeping spiders out of your home is tricky, but it can be done. Here are some tips for preventing spiders:

• Seal all potential entry points. This means maintaining your home’s exterior and sealing gaps in windows and doors. 
• Clean up outside. Maintaining plants near your home so they’re not overgrown and keeping your lawn orderly can go a long way toward preventing pests like spiders.
• Remove clutter. Spiders prefer not to encounter people, so they move around in hidden spaces, which you can create by having a cluttered home. 

How to Remove Them

Some of us are brave enough to use the cup-and-paper method to remove spiders. If you use this method, consider using a clear glass and checking the spider’s markings. If it’s a brown spider with a violin pattern near the back of its head or a black spider with a red hourglass marking, kill it—you don’t want to risk a black widow or brown recluse bite. Otherwise, trap the spider with a glass, slide paper under it, then carefully flip the container with the paper in place, and release the spider at least 10 feet from your home. 

If you don’t want to go near the spider, consider vacuuming the spider or using an aerosol spray to kill it, then dispose of the body once you’ve killed it. 

Seek Professional Help

Generally, seeing spiders is not a reason to call for professional help until you start seeing more than one at a time. Having a lot of spiders in your home means those spiders have a consistent food source. Since their diet mostly consists of insects, it can be a sign of a larger infestation. 

Seeing spiders more than you should? Command Pest Control, a veteran-owned company with a 20-year history of exceptional service, is here to help. We offer exterminator services in Broward County. Call us at 954-943-0008 or contact us online to schedule a free inspection.