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How to Get Rid of Black Widows in a Garage
How to Get Rid of Black Widows in a Garage. As one of the few spiders with a mouth strong enough to penetrate your skin, and the most venomous spider on the North American continent, according to the Ohio State University Extension, you must remove black widow spiders from your environment. Identify a female black widow spider by her shiny, jet...
As one of the few spiders with a mouth strong enough to penetrate your skin, and the most venomous spider on the North American continent, according to the Ohio State University Extension, you must remove black widow spiders from your environment. Identify a female black widow spider by her shiny, jet black coloring and red hourglass underneath her abdomen. Each of her tough, yellow egg sacs can hold 300 eggs. Males are usually all black and harmless. Getting rid of black widow spiders from your garage helps protect you and your family from their bites.
Things You'll Need
Gloves
Boots
Long sleeves
Vacuum cleaner
Sealable plastic bag
Outdoor garbage container
Nonresidual aerosol spray
Shoe
Rolled-up newspaper (optional)
Sticky traps
Jar
Sheet of paper
Put on gloves, boots and wear long sleeves when you enter your garage to remove black widow spiders. These garments offer you protection from possible spider bites.
Remove black widow spiders by vacuuming your garage completely, along with the spider's egg sacs and webs.
Place the vacuum cleaner bag in a sealed plastic bag immediately upon finishing vacuuming, ensure the bag has a tight seal, and then throw out the bag in an outdoor container, so you will not reintroduce the spiders in your home or environment.
Use a nonresidual aerosol spray to kill individual black widows you can see. Nonresidual sprays work continuously, but they only work if you spray the spider and its web directly. Note that this spray will not affect the egg sacs.
Kill black widow spiders by crushing them with a shoe or by hitting the spider with a rolled-up newspaper.
Place sticky traps around your garage to capture black widow spiders, but ensure that children and pets do not tamper with the traps.
Remove a black widow spider humanely, by covering the spider with a jar, slipping a sheet of paper underneath the jar across the jar's opening, and then lifting the jar up with the spider inside. Set the black widow free in a natural environment at least 100 feet from your home.
Tips & Warnings
Keep seasonal clothes and decorations taped shut in boxes, off the floor and in locations away from the walls to keep spiders away.
Seal cracks and gaps around windowsills and doors of your garage to prevent spiders from entering.
Sweep or vacuum your garage regularly to get rid of spiders and their webs.
Remove clutter from your garage to help eliminate places black widow spiders can hide.
Although the black widow spider bite, which feels like a pin prick, rarely causes death, stay calm if bitten. Place an ice pack on the bite area to reduce swelling, apply alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to disinfect the wound and go to the hospital immediately. You may stay for observation in the hospital, especially if you have other health problems. Try to bring the dead spider in a container such as a plastic bag for identification. You may receive an antivenom drug to counteract the spider's venom, which can return you to normal in about 30 minutes.
