Spiders obviously don’t appear inside the house by virtue of some witchery. No doubt, they’re the creepiest members of the arachnid family, but they aren’t long legged witches after all!
They must have travelled all the way from somewhere and walked in through a medium that openly invited them.
We’ll see exactly where these places are around the house and what measures you can take to prevent these critters from sneaking inside and triggering your family’s arachnophobia.
1) Through openings
As you might have guessed, spiders get into the house through openings around the house that are both obvious and not, so long they are wide enough to let pass their fragile bodies.
These openings include cervices, air vents, open doors, spaces on windows, cracks on foundations leading from outside to inside, spaces created when cables are passed from outside to the inside through windows, doors, ceilings e.t.c, and so many more.
It’s your home, check around and you’ll never be short of these openings especially when you have an active spider infestation.
Of course, bigger spiders, some of which aren’t house spiders but other outdoor species, amble through the bigger holes around the house, and the much smaller spiders get into the house using smaller cracks and openings.
2) As hitchhikers
Aside spiders turning confident and walking through the doors of any house like they contributed a dime to furnish it, spiders can decide to let you do all the work for them through hitchhiking.
Genius bastards, aren’t they?
So how do spider’s hitchhike?
Obviously, spiders don’t beg for rides to your home by signaling for it using their arms and legs (the way traditional hitchhikers do) — whichever happens to be which – I don’t care.
They are rather, active members of the small ecosystem thriving inside the containers, objects, items or whatever it is that you bring inside your home from outside, especially from storage areas, and the examples include cushions, mattresses or chairs. And spiders are only brought inside the house unwittingly via this medium.
A malnourished spider, sensing a much better abode that the cushion it’s currently thriving in, will do everything within its power to get to that destination, even if that place happens to be the inside your home!
One more thing, spiders themselves need not be hitchhiked. Their eggs, instead, can be, when mummy is fortunate enough to have the eggs she laid on these items transported into the house by you. So it’s only a matter hatching and starting a new life where food abounds! Genius momma, isn’t she?
Why do spiders get in the house?
Yes, there will always be that one spider that casually walked inside the house for no reason and then eventually discovered peace in there, but for the vast majority, the endeavor is one embraced with either or a combination of the following four goals in mind.
1) To find mates
Spiders can barge into your house with the sole purpose of finding a new mate to reproduce with. Or, in females, to find a comfy spot and establish a nest where male parties can be invited for a relaxing business. The “climate” around your house is just the way spiders like it spring, not too hot and neither too cold. Just the perfect click for a long night.
2) To find shelter
Aside finding a mate, spiders can also enter into your house in order to find shelter. When the conditions outside is unfavorable for foraging, life, reproduction or whatever it is they do that only GOD knows, spiders begin their migration into your house, and you begin to wonder why the hell you have so much spider all of a sudden. Silly you, you’ve always had their company all these while!
3) To find food and water
The last on the list is the most obvious, and that’s to find food and water. Spiders, ignoring the funny fact that they neither look like things to be eaten nor things that nosh, require food and especially water for their sustenance. They feed primarily on insects and other’s alike, and so the abundance of critters around your property will signal to them there’s food and they’ll definitely arrive marching.
How do you stop spiders coming into the house?
You want the bitter truth? It’s simple, you can’t stop spiders from getting into the house, just as you can’t stop ants and other insect’s alike from entering the house!
Your efforts to block all cracks and openings wouldn’t prove much of a success because those aren’t the only ways that spiders get into the house. There’s hitchhiking too. Besides, who can ever block out all the cracks and holes around their house? Some holes and openings are just there to stay, and at one point or the other, they’ll eventually let in some spiders.
But hey, that isn’t to say that you shouldn’t seal cracks and openings that are obvious to you. Seal them to prevent pests like mice and rats, which pose far much bigger threat than spiders (that are harmless) from gaining entry!
While you can’t stop spiders from appearing inside your house every now and then, you can of course limit their population inside with numerous remedies already out there on the internet.
- These include regular cleaning and maintaining cleanliness
- Removing spiders manually
- Applying natural deterrents.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are there spiders in my house all of a sudden?
There may be so many spiders in your house all of a sudden because the spiders that have been around are now making their presence known to you. And what can make spiders decide on such idea? Seeking shelter of course. The spiders on your garden trees and outside properties are being driven inside as a result of unfavorable weather condition and the constraints of foraging and reproduction that comes with it.
So they are only inside to seek shelter and food.
Are spiders a sign of a dirty house?
Not necessarily, but they could be. Spider are known carnivores of the animal world which means that they subsist on an insect diet. This would normally imply that spiders in your home is not a sign of a dirty home, but let’s take a close look, not all insects feed on insects, and some, like the fruit flies and drain flies found around the house subsist on garbage matter, rotten food, and all sort of food times that would normally classify a home as dirty when present. So there you go, in this manner, spiders in the house tackling the population of these insects lured in by the presence of rotten foods in the house is surely the sign of a dirty house!
Should you kill a house spider?
You have no reason whatsoever to kill a house spider since its presence in your home essentially, poses not threat to you, unless we consider the specific symptoms of arachnophobia in some people which can be pretty serious.
So perfectly healthy with no arachnophobia, don’t kill spiders, if you don’t want them in the very space they inhabited first before you, capture them and release them far away from the house.
Where do spiders come from in the bathroom?
Spiders in the bathroom can come from different places, but if the population is especially much, than that can be a sign they’re sauntering though from a crack somewhere. But not that other spider populations around the house can also be lured into the bathroom in search for water to quench their thirst.
Can spiders get through closed windows?
No, spiders can’t get through closed windows that are properly sealed. But spiders can definitely get through windows that are closed but have spaces and cervices around that aren’t sealed.
Final Verdict
Spiders get into your house from outside, through openings around the house for example doors, windows, cracks and cervices. Stopping a spider from entering the house is an impossible mission to accomplish since there are so many ways that they can come in, but taking preventive and extermination measures like inspecting items thoroughly before bringing them in, sealing obvious entry points, eliminating current population inside the house, using insecticide and natural deterrents can help to limit their populations by great deal.