laid down in bed, when suddenly...

[cjjtulsa]

Just killed another one - it was on the electric range. My oldest son drug me in to see it, so we turned on the burner! Didn't take him long to haul butt, but the flyswatter eliminated little hotfoot. Flyswatter 2, fiddlers 0.

I need to use some glue traps but one of our dogs will surely end up with them stuck all over her. We had an exterminator tell us that spraying doesn't work very well, as the fiddlebacks don't clean themselves the way roaches do, and they are too tall to get into the poison very much. Time to do something, as this is the time of year that they are supposed to be looking for mates, so they'll be active.

 

[LightningCrash]

I've killed two in our closet at least 1 inch. I've never seen them that big. Warm winter to blame?

maybe so
1.1" is the upper bounds of what they get to, counting the legs in the measurement. thorax maybe 5/8"?

now the Crevice Spider looks scarily just like the brown recluse, and it can get to be 2" wide counting the legs. you do want those in your house, they're little bug-eating badasses. they'll eat so many bugs that pretty much every other spider will starve to death.
picture here
http://www.arizonensis.org/sonoran/fieldguide/arthropoda/kukulcania_hibernalis.html

 

[NikatKimber]

Yeah, mine seems to shed like crazy, yet her hair is still as thick as ever. Our bathtub is behind our sink, so when my wife blow dries her hair, it flies back and collects in that bathtub. I find the stuff in my socks, boxers, my truck. It's every where. Once a month I have to break down the vacuum cleaner and clean the hair off the rollers.

It's ridiculous.

Dude! I have to do that every time we run the vacuum cleaner. And by "clean the hair off the rollers," I mean, getcher biggest, sharpest knife and cut it off.

 

[Danny Tanner]

Dude! I have to do that every time we run the vacuum cleaner. And by "clean the hair off the rollers," I mean, getcher biggest, sharpest knife and cut it off.

Yyyyep. I have to bust out the scissors and perform surgery. It honestly looks like a giant hair curler. It's her hair, yet I'm the one snipping away at it. Funny how that works out.

On the subject of recluses, we found another in the daughter's bathroom this evening. This one went for a swim in the toilet. It's time to start looking into extermination services.

 

[Danny Tanner]

Ok, killed another one in the daughter's bathroom again tonight. This time it was small one (nickel size including legs), so I'm thinking there's a nest or recent hatching of one somewhere in the house. I've seen more brown recluses in the last 5 days than I've ever seen before in my 29 years existence. And yes, these are definitely fiddlebacks. The fact that 3 of them have been in the daughter's bathroom is concerning. My mother in law works for Edmond Schools and she told us that they've been told there's a brown recluse problem in Edmond right now.

So, are there any DIY treatments worth their weight? If so, what are they?
Am I better off hiring an exterminator? If so, I need recommendations in the Edmond area.

 

[LightningCrash]

BR isnt the only species with a pseudo-fiddle shape on its back. Did you look at its eyes?

 

[farmerbyron]

I'm about to bomb this house like Dresden.


Is there any way to over do the bug bomb. Literally thinking a bomb in every room, 2 in the attic and 2 in the crawlspace.

 

[AGI]

Glue traps is about the only thing that works for me on BRS. I have at least 2 in every room. Fold em up and you wont have them stickin to your pets...learned the hard way lol the cat was mad at me for days for shaving half his fur off

 

[Danny Tanner]

One thing I did not do was look at the eyes. I'm aware of other spiders that may have a violin-like markings, but none the same exact color and physical attributes shared by confirmed fiddlebacks.

If you see the picture I shared earlier in this thread, all of the supposed fiddlebacks I've seen in my house the last few days look exactly like it, just different sizes.

I see on the Wikipedia that one of the closest resembling spider is a cellar spider, only because of the violin, but otherwise looks nothing like a brown recluse, in my opinion:

I also saw the Southern House Spider linked above, which are similar, but with slender bodies and uniform coloring. All of the spiders I've seen have darker, rounder abdomens.

 

[Clay]

So, are there any DIY treatments worth their weight? If so, what are they?
Am I better off hiring an exterminator? If so, I need recommendations in the Edmond area.

Seeing is believing. It works. I use Pymethrin insecticides bought at Lowes and they work. When I first bought this house new I had a LOT of brown recluse spiders and I called the exterminator. After talking with him extensively about the chemicals he used, he basically told me the EPA has regulated them to using the same chems that can be bought in any store. He was using Pymethrin and said it would kill a variety of pest including fiddle backs.
He said sunlight, heat and water break down the chemical in about 30 days so he said he sprays the base boards so mop water would not deactivae it. I spray as he said and all I see are dead spiders for the next 6-9 months. They dont make it 10' from the baseboard that they just walk on before they die in the middle of the room. Right now, I am behind on spraying and have seen 3-4 live healthy fiddlebacks in the last week. It will not stain carpet or woodwork and has no smell.

Here is some good info and I copied a piece of it.
http://www.whc.net/cdwr/download/Recluse.pdf
Adult spiders spend little time in direct contact with surfaces. Instead, they are found in or on webbing. Thorough applications of
fine particles of insecticides such as ULV, aerosols or fogs contact spiders in their webs causing quicker population reduction.
Use space sprays of pyrethrins or resmethrin for useful clean outs, especially attics and crawl spaces.

The spray works, I dont care what some exterminator may say. My exterminator (very honest guy) told me to use the Pymethrin spray and he was right. Been using this method every 6-9 months for 12 years and it works. Only POTA about it is all the dead bugs that keep showing up on the floor.