Spider identifier

[eastcoastkings]

I left a sticky mouse trap in my basement and it caught hundreds of spiders. Get one and stick it in a corner or somewhere against a wall where spiders run and they'll get stuck on it.

[kenny Blankenship]

A spider bite did this to my dog's leg. His leg ballooned within minutes of the bite and antibiotics had no effect. This is the elbow of a 200 lb Mastiff, I don't know what kind of spider did this but I hate to think what it would do to a smaller dog or a child.

[darkaengel]

hobo spiders and brown recluse look almost identical. they are commonly confused by those who do not deal with them regularly. medical professionals continually make the misdiagnosis that it was a "brown recluse bite" because it is one of the most dynamic explanations for a necrotic wound, and there is an ongoing list of conditions that can cause one. it is just easier to say "spider bite".

"A nationwide study was undertaken from 2000 to 2005, offering to identify any spider that was considered to be a brown recluse spider. Nearly 600 specimens were submitted from California, many from people who were adamant that they had a brown recluse. Only one of these specimens was a brown recluse, from a house where the family had moved from Missouri. No additional recluses were found in the house. "

despite this, the outcome of the bite doesnt seem to be much different between a hobo and recluse!

[Merry]

We've been toying with the idea of moving from the North Okanagan into Kelowna, but after reading some of the posts on this website I'm begining to have some sober second thoughts!

I know it's silly, but I'm incredibly arachnaphobic. Are there really as many spiders in folks houses down there as this thread implies???? We do see spiders in our current home occasionally, but not all that many, and none that are dangerous. I don't think I could handle living in a house where I regularly saw giant house spiders or black widows.

What do you folks in Kelowna do to keep the spiders at bay? Is it a good idea to get some sort of pest inspection prior to buying a house?

[allisongray]

Yes, spiders are quite common in Kelowna. We just keep a can of shoe protector around, as it kills them on contact (we only use it on black widows.) This may sound inhumane to some, but we have two little boys, so we don't take any chances!

[mexi cali]

Merry; I have a friend who is like you in her fear and when she bought her home in Lakeview heights, it was discovered to be full of spiders.

She called a pest control company who eradicated them and comes in occasionally to maintain the property and she has had no problems apart from maybe the very occasional one.

But overall, in answer to your question, the central Okanagan seems to have its share of arachnids.

Me, I don't mind them. They keep away other bugs. I raised my kids to respect them also. We don't kill spiders in our house. we move them back out doors.

[Merry]

Merry; I have a friend who is like you in her fear and when she bought her home in Lakeview heights, it was discovered to be full of spiders.

She called a pest control company who eradicated them and comes in occasionally to maintain the property and she has had no problems apart from maybe the very occasional one.

But overall, in answer to your question, the central Okanagan seems to have its share of arachnids.

The scenario you describe would be my worst nightmare! Do you have any idea how much it cost her to get the pest control people in? Is West Kelowna worse than Kelowna for spiders, or are they about the same?

[dogspoiler]

Black Widows are not indigenous in Alberta but they do pop up once on a while.

One story from a year or two back out of Cow town made the front page when a Widda was found in a bunch of fruit purchased from the local Coop that originated in the Okanagan. I laughed and laughed.

Man, they're like pets here.

I have been bitten by them twice and have one in a jar right now.

[W105]

I too freak about spiders like you Merry...(I can silently scream for hrs when seeing them...lol) I just use Raid and vaccum alot...someone told me walnuts keep the spiders away, so I put some in our 5th wheel and I have never seen a spider in there ??? so they seem to be working...

[Scadam]

hobo spiders and brown recluse look almost identical. they are commonly confused by those who do not deal with them regularly. medical professionals continually make the misdiagnosis that it was a "brown recluse bite" because it is one of the most dynamic explanations for a necrotic wound, and there is an ongoing list of conditions that can cause one. it is just easier to say "spider bite".

"A nationwide study was undertaken from 2000 to 2005, offering to identify any spider that was considered to be a brown recluse spider. Nearly 600 specimens were submitted from California, many from people who were adamant that they had a brown recluse. Only one of these specimens was a brown recluse, from a house where the family had moved from Missouri. No additional recluses were found in the house. "

despite this, the outcome of the bite doesnt seem to be much different between a hobo and recluse!

That sounds like exactly the type of article I found when I was researching what I was afraid was a hobo spider; that once you got to the point of physically sending the spider in for ID it was usually a more common/mundane variety. It didn't take long to rule out Brown Recluse, but figuring out if it was a Hobo or a Giant House Spider was difficult. Google "hobo vs giant house spider" and you see those two are damn near identical. It took time to get past yet another layer of anecdotes and people erring on the side of calling their spider more dangerous than it is. But I finally found an excellent PDF outling details to check specifically to compare those two types and confirmed it was a Giant House Spider. They're the least dangerous of the three types and the most common by far, but most people have likely never even heard of them (Giant House Spider), well aside from saying a spider is "giant" in general, but it's actually a specific species and if you live in the okanagan you probably live near one. Much less likely there is a Hobo or Recluse anywhere near you, but I'm sure there are exceptions.

[Steve-O]

Walnuts eh. Someone told my wife acorns, so now we have acorns at the corners of the front door, door from garage and the garage door. Still get spiders in the garage but nothing in the house. 5 years in WK since moving from Calgary and have found a total of 4 Black Widows in the garage. We have two boys, 7 & 5, and they understand that if they see spiders, they can look but don't touch and to tell Mom and Dad. No problems as they get it.

Merry; spiders are easy to predict where they will set up their webs and easy to identify once you do a little homework and you will soon discover that they are no big deal once you are familiar with their habits. BW's have very messy webs and are easy to identify, I've found them in the corners of my garage and out back behind our garden shed. They prefer the dark, shady areas. Minimize the amount of outside lights you leave on at night that attract moths and bugs and you minimize the amount of spiders around your property.

[French Castanut]

Here I often see back widows & a kind of brown disgusting spider. When I see them I drop dishwasher soap on them they die instantaniously.. I also spray with Raid then I'm good I don't see them for about two weeks.

[Merry]

Here I often see back widows & a kind of brown disgusting spider. When I see them I drop dishwasher soap on them they die instantaniously.. I also spray with Raid then I'm good I don't see them for about two weeks.

Do u live up the hill or down in the valley bottom? Rural or urban?

[Lizard]

Merry, I hate to be the one to intensify your fear of spiders, however arachnologists estimate at any given time the average house has 100 to 200 spiders regardless of location. Spiders are not going to go out of their way to bite you nor are they going to stalk you as prey.
An interesting link:

http://www.burkemuseum.org/spidermyth/

[Nebula]

When we see a spider in the house, especially wolf spiders and black widows, we catch them in a jar and take them outside.