How to Get Rid of Wolf Spiders?

Among the most widely recognized, if not the most easily recognized, spiders in all of America, is the Wolf Spider. As ugly as they are, they actually perform a useful service both outdoors and inside. Because they are such good insect hunters, they manage to keep many insect populations under control. As it grows colder outside, they begin to look for a warmer locale to hang out, which means inside of your house. Even though they are not interested in biting you, only your home’s insects, you want them gone. In this article, we discuss the necessary steps for ridding yourself of the Wolf Spider menace.

Contents

1 Sealing up the Outside
2 Sealing up the Inside
3 Ensure that the Outside of Your Home is Uninviting to Wolf Spiders
4 Clean Your House
5 Killing Wolf Spider by Hunting Them Down
6 Utilizing Pesticides to Eliminate Wolf Spiders

Sealing up the Outside

The smartest and most effective means of not letting wolf spiders inside of your house lies in first sealing off all access points to the inside. The first place to start with is in plugging up or patching up holes in screens, and in putting up weather stripping on all of your doors and windows. Door sweeps do not hurt to install either.

Once you have accomplished these tasks, you will need to track down a working caulk gun and outdoor sealant. Patrol slowly and carefully around your home’s exterior, filling in any holes or cracks which you come across. Be sure to inspect the areas around any cables, plumbing, and wiring, as well. Patch up all of the holes with the sealant to keep any more wolf spiders from finding their way inside of your house.

Sealing up the Inside

Once you have secured your home’s exterior, do the same job inside of it. Begin with your crawlspaces or basement area, seeking out any holes or cracks that need to be filled in. Check again for the cables, plumbing, and wiring that allows critters to enter your home. Check those windows too, since they often hide tiny cracks which are large enough for your unwelcome guests. Work your way higher after finishing up with the basement. In the attic, ensure that a nice screen is tightly secured around any and all vents.

Ensure that the Outside of Your Home is Uninviting to Wolf Spiders

Next, you will want to remove any vegetation from the exterior of your house, in order to make it as unappealing to the insect-hunting spiders as possible. Begin by removing any vegetation from the outside of your home. Hedges, bushes, grass, ivy, or any kind of plant which is hugging the side of your house has to go. Get rid of any piles of wood, rocks, or lumber which are lying around just outside the home. Stop using lighting outdoors. Since it attracts the spider’s prey of insects, it is a huge invitation to come on over. If you can not do without outdoor lighting, then make the switch to sodium vapor or yellow lighting instead.

Clean Your House

Wolf spiders are very fond of messy houses. The obvious answer to this may be painful to hear, but you must clean up your house. Pick up the piles and organize them. Throw out the items that you neither use or need any more. Piles of laundry, newspapers, magazines, boxes, all of these need to go. Keep clean dishes. Routinely engage in sweeping up, mopping the floors, and vacuuming the carpet.

Killing Wolf Spider by Hunting Them Down

Rather than waiting to be surprised, or even bitten, by your resident wolf spiders, launch a preemptive strike and hit them first! Wait until it is dark, pick up a flash light, and begin to shine it in the kinds of places where Wolf Spiders enjoy hiding out. Since the creepy little creatures have reflective cells (tapetum lucidum) in their eyes, the light of your flash light will reflect back to you. Find them, and eliminate them.

Utilizing Pesticides to Eliminate Wolf Spiders

The good news is that Wolf Spiders only bite when they are threatened. Fortunately, even though they are venomous spiders, their bites are basically not dangerous. In any case, you can control and kill spiders using one of a number of effective spider poisons on the market. Be sure that you carefully read the instructions which come with the poison. There are poisons for use outdoors and those appropriate and safe for inside your house. A few of them work in both places without causing people harm.