How do you deal with spiders and insects?

[InquilineKea]

Yeah. Like, if I'm studying hard for a day, a single HORRIFYINGLY FAST spider can ruin it all.

So.. how do you deal with them? Are there any spider zappers that work? Surprisingly, I do have Victor poison-free insect magnets that somehow work for spiders (I don't know how, but maybe they trap small insects, which the spider can't resist, so the spider ends up trapped too)

[waddle]

electric fly swatters work wonders

[InquilineKea]

Do they work wonders on spiders though? =/ That's what I'm really wondering, since the Amazon.com reviews don't say

[squaresquared]

I'm not sure if it works for spiders -- but I know baby powder deters other creepy crawlies. You could always spray along the edges of your walls with spider killer spray or even duct tape over all the corners. Use drain plugs when you aren't showering or using the sink because they sometimes come up that way. I also heard that strong floraly smells deter them, but not so sure why or how that would work.

[eco_env]

So.. how do you deal with them?

Shoes.

[StrangeLight]

Shoes.

being an adult.

[newms]

Do they work wonders on spiders though? =/ That's what I'm really wondering, since the Amazon.com reviews don't say

They do. A rolled up newspaper works well too.

[UnlikelyGrad]

Shoes.

LOL. I was just going to say, "Squish w/ tissue--or hand if no tissue is handy"

[kaykaykay]

A a big statistics book. I got very good in target throwing it, I should join the circus.

I microwaved a spider once but I get very panicked from them especially when I do not have shoes on and they are not on ground level.

[Phil Sparrow]

Let your spiders roam free. They will eat other insects!

[rising_star]

Let your spiders roam free. They will eat other insects!

That only works if they are non-poisonous. I killed a huge one in my bathroom last night, mostly because I didn't want to get close enough to figure out whether it was poisonous or not.

[hopelesslypostmodern]

A Swiffer works nicely. The long handle gives you some distance and if you have a cleaning pad (or, in a pinch, paper towel) on it makes clean up easy.

[Xanthan]

I microwaved a spider once

Isn't that how Spiderman was created?

[vitaminquartet]

That only works if they are non-poisonous.

Err, they're all poisonous (or rather, venomous) but basically none of them that a grad student in urban or suburban North America or Europe is likely to encounter in their homes will carry the venom that can significantly hurt a person. In any case

Killing spiders and insects (apart from those like mosquitoes and others that actively feed on or attack people) is pointless and mean. Respect nature and be decent to the organisms we share our world with. I don't like spiders in my apartment either but I always get them to walk onto a paper towel or piece of paper and glass and then carefully let them outside (windows will probably be fine since, I'd guess, the terminal velocity of a small spider is probably low enough that I doubt they'd be injured)

Edited June 20, 2011 by vitaminquartet

[StrangeLight]

get a cat. the cat will eat them.

[rising_star]

Err, they're all poisonous (or rather, venomous) but basically none of them that a grad student in urban or suburban North America or Europe is likely to encounter in their homes will carry the venom that can significantly hurt a person.

Umm, we have both brown recluse and black widow spiders where I live. While you may say they can't significantly hurt a person, authorities seem to disagree with you. What I killed was probably a Wolf Spider, rather than a Brown Recluse, but you have to get pretty close to them to count the number of eyes and really be able to tell the difference.

[Owlie]

I ignore them. I live in Ohio, and while we're borderline in-range for brown recluses, I've never come across them. And that article says that most of the time, the bites are harmless. Personally, I find spiders interesting, and since my little wolf spider colony (and the colony of house centipedes) eat roaches--one of the few invertebrates that I hate--I like having them around.

Now, if I found a black widow in my house, I'm not sure I'd be so good about ignoring it...

[MoJingly]

I ignore them. I live in Ohio, and while we're borderline in-range for brown recluses, I've never come across them. And that article says that most of the time, the bites are harmless. Personally, I find spiders interesting, and since my little wolf spider colony (and the colony of house centipedes) eat roaches--one of the few invertebrates that I hate--I like having them around.

Now, if I found a black widow in my house, I'm not sure I'd be so good about ignoring it...

My skin in crawling.

[awvish]

I scoop it up in a cup and put it outside. Or in a houseplant.

But, then, I'm an entomology-type person...and I just don't like gratuitous killing. YMMV

[runonsentence]

I trap them in a cup and wait for my partner to come over to my apartment and let them outside for me. And then the feminist inside me cries.

I also live in Ohio, and in an area with a large roach population at that, and I think the one I trapped in my bedroom last spring was a wolf spider. I nearly died [figuratively].

Edited July 4, 2011 by runonsentence

[eco_env]

I scoop it up in a cup and put it outside. Or in a houseplant.

But, then, I'm an entomology-type person...and I just don't like gratuitous killing. YMMV

If you are an entomologist, don't you kill a lot of bugs? I kill more bugs for my research than for any other reason, but I guess it's not really gratuitous.

[awvish]

If you are an entomologist, don't you kill a lot of bugs? I kill more bugs for my research than for any other reason, but I guess it's not really gratuitous.

Yeah, I do end up killing a bunch of insects for research...in making that statement I was assuming that it wasn't gratuitous, which is inaccurate in some interpretations. Sorry.

[HyacinthMacaw]

I, too, share this concern as I'll be in a place with brown recluse spiders (the "Green Berets of the spider world" according to one site). I guess I'll be dusting my linens every time I'm about to use them for the next 5 years. Prevention first, right?

[TheSquirrel]

*shudders* I'm arachnophobic... So far I've had spiders only twice in my apartment, and luckily it happened when my mom was visiting -- she took care of them.

If forced to, I'd probably just use a shoe or a slipper to kill the poor thing.. as long as it's not too big... if it's big, I'd probably try to spray it with those Raid insecticide stuff, and hope it works... but it's not just the killing part that scares me -- it's also the getting-rid-of-the-body part. I'd probably put on latex gloves and then use a combination of paper and tissue to carry and throw it into the trash, and then quickly throw away the trash into the garbage chute. Yes, seriously, that's how much even the tiniest spider scares me. It has nothing to do with growing up, I'm afraid.

Edited July 23, 2011 by TheSquirrel

[Bonkers]

I have two cats---granted, one is useless in the field of hunting. However, the cat that is not afraid of bugs does a great job. I have never ever seen a cockroach or mouse in our apartment--and I am in nyc, which is the capital of pests. Cats!

Edited July 28, 2011 by Bonkers