How to Avoid Spiders Looking for Warmth inside Homes

Noticed a lot of spiders in the last week?

Spiders in the Upper Cumberland will be looking to hunker down for the Winter inside people’s homes.

Overton County Agriculture Extension Agent Jason Garrett said debris, leaves and wood near entrances to the home can attract spiders inside. Garrett said keeping the home neat by vacuuming and dusting can stop the spiders you do see, from creating an even bigger infestation.

“All those spots where you see them most, you know they’ve laid eggs,” Garrett said. “You want to keep those clean because spider eggs, I mean that’s a lot of spiders that can come from one female that hatches eggs, it’s unreal how many they can reproduce.”

Garrett said when his office gets contacted about spiders in the home his biggest recommendations are to call a pest company to spray the home three times a year. While also setting glue traps around cracks, crevasses and windowsills.

“Get a pest company and spray all the barriers around your home, for instance, doors and any crevasse, crack that they may come in through,” Garrett said. “Put that labeled restricted use pesticide that’s a little more stout than what you can get at a home and garden center.”

Garrett said the most common spider that will be noticed in the home is the wolf spider. However, Garrett said the biggest threat to people inside is the brown recluse.