How to control spiders on your boat?
- Thread starter dive7mmwet
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I have used Suspend SC also with great results. It is a professional grade product that I purchased from a Do It Yourself Pestcontrol store. Use it around the house a couple of times a year to control spiders, roaches, ants, etc. It is sold in concentrated solution & diluted with water. Fairly expensive; however, a quart sized bottle is good for a few years.
I don't like the aeresol kind of sprays that just kill all of the insects or spiders you spray it on because I think a lot of it ends up in the water and is not good for fish, etc.
What we have used to great effect is permethrin spray on the exterior fabric (bimini, bimini cover, sail cover, winch covers, etc). It comes in a squirt bottle and once sprayed on remains effective on the fabric for 1-2 months, even through laundering or rainfall. It has no scent or color and is considered non-toxic for people if sprayed on their clothing (it is marketed to outdoorsmen to spray on shoes and gear to keep ticks off) but insects will not land on a surface sprayed with it. Fewer insects = fewer spiders.
We still have spiders land on the boat, but with a more limited food source, they're not proliferating the way they had been. In other words, we now have 1-2 visible webs in the rigging when we return to the boat, instead of having so many that the broom I used to sweep the webs down looked like it had Shrek-style cotton candy on the end by the time I was done.
What we have used to great effect is permethrin spray on the exterior fabric (bimini, bimini cover, sail cover, winch covers, etc). It comes in a squirt bottle and once sprayed on remains effective on the fabric for 1-2 months, even through laundering or rainfall. It has no scent or color and is considered non-toxic for people if sprayed on their clothing (it is marketed to outdoorsmen to spray on shoes and gear to keep ticks off) but insects will not land on a surface sprayed with it. Fewer insects = fewer spiders.
We still have spiders land on the boat, but with a more limited food source, they're not proliferating the way they had been. In other words, we now have 1-2 visible webs in the rigging when we return to the boat, instead of having so many that the broom I used to sweep the webs down looked like it had Shrek-style cotton candy on the end by the time I was done.
I went to get some Home Defense at... Home Depot. I walked in the front door, and there it was on shelves in massive quantities. I applied it once, but it'as too early to see results.
This is true!
I use Black Flag fogger at dusk.
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I also fog the underside of the piers too. The fog does not go in the water, but it is such a small amount to make a lot of fog.
Here what they recommend for spiders.
[URL="http://www.blackflag.com/Problem-Solver/Crawling-Pests/Spiders.aspx"]http://www.blackflag.com/Problem-Solver/Crawling-Pests/Spiders.aspx
Jim...
I'm totally against poisoning the little buggers ... they serve their purpose and don't deserve such a cowardly means for their demise. If you have to kill them (as I do for the sake of Sue's sanity), at least be a man and confront them face to face. Squashing them in the palm or your hand with a sharp slap is at least humane - they'll be splattered into oblivion without having to writhe through unnecessary agony. Sometimes I'll just flick them into the water as I'm leaving the dock and give them a chance to swim to a neighbor's boat before being gulped down by a creature from the deep. You have to be sure that they can't follow you on the remnants of their own web, though. Otherwise, they'll just climb on board again.
Well said, Scott.
Poison is unnecessary and ultimately counterproductive.
"Better living through chemistry" is a corporate slogan.
Poison is unnecessary and ultimately counterproductive.
"Better living through chemistry" is a corporate slogan.
try squashing a Huntsman spider in your hand and you may change your mind fast
Well we have fought harmful insects for years. I hope you don't get bit like I did and didn't heal for 6 MONTHS. There are good insects and harmful ones, but spiders are in a class of their own. You surely don't want the list of bads.
I hate killing anything unless they can harm my family.
Even Miss Muffet couldn't finish her humble meal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Miss_Muffet
Jim...
PS: Fog the buggers.
I hate killing anything unless they can harm my family.
Even Miss Muffet couldn't finish her humble meal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Miss_Muffet
Jim...
PS: Fog the buggers.
That said, spider bites can be a bit nasty. I'm pretty sure it was a spider bite during my boat cleanup earlier this summer that left a welt on my fore arm that was significantly more serious than a mosquito bite. It took a few days before it diminished to the point where I was no longer concerned. My wife works with a fellow who was on the verge of having his leg amputated for ignoring the effect of a nasty spider bite that got worse over time (so said the doctor who finally treated him). That pretty much freaked her out as it relates to spiders on the boat!
Especially in the spider who bit me 3 times.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_recluse_spider
Don't Bing search the wound pictures!
The spider's poison is for hunting and killing.
Can you pick the good from the bad ones? Good luck with that. There is plenty of swamps and woods left for them to survive.
Down with spiders and up with fair winds....
Jim...
Wow! And you survived?Especially in the spider who bit me 3 times.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_recluse_spider
Don't Bing search the wound pictures!
The spider's poison is for hunting and killing.
Can you pick the good from the bad ones? Good luck with that. There is plenty of swamps and woods left for them to survive.
Down with spiders and up with fair winds....
Jim...
Some good information in your link.
Reminds me of a short story by Philip K. Dick called Expendable.
Secondary infections ...
In the case of Sue's co-worker, it wasn't the spider bite that was the problem. A secondary infection that can be related to spider bites and other small wounds caused a life (or limb) threatening situation. Check out this about MSRA. http://www.lifescript.com/health/ce...ction&ef_id=Us1XZwAABSs1@jmU:20150805101736:s
I believe that our casual attitude toward, and use of, antibiotics and poisons has a downside.
I still say that if you must battle these tiny creatures to the death, do so like a man with hand-to-hand combat.
In the case of Sue's co-worker, it wasn't the spider bite that was the problem. A secondary infection that can be related to spider bites and other small wounds caused a life (or limb) threatening situation. Check out this about MSRA. http://www.lifescript.com/health/ce...ction&ef_id=Us1XZwAABSs1@jmU:20150805101736:s
I believe that our casual attitude toward, and use of, antibiotics and poisons has a downside.
I still say that if you must battle these tiny creatures to the death, do so like a man with hand-to-hand combat.
The secondary or whatever effect of the bite was not cured by normal first aid. MSRA perhaps was the net impact.
After 3 doctors and 4 months not taking a biopsy, I became worried. Finally said I had enough, and a dermatologist prescribe a chemical that was poisonous to the evil bacteria.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfamethoxazole
This is working.:dance:
Being a Chemical Engineer I found this drug to be well designed. A combination of the pre WWII Sulpha drugs and another antibiotic. Chemicals run our bodies. My mother treated us with Iodine (burned like the dickens). I eat chemicals every day and even some poisons like apple seeds (arsenic ).
People feared Sweet & Low for years, please note that it no longer contains a Cancer warning. After 35 years of study by FDA, nothing.
Relax, eat healthy, take vitamins, exercise, kill West Nile virus carrying Mosquitos, stomp spiders, avoid sharks and don't drown in a chemical called WATER.
Jim...
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/08/11/dupont-chemistry-deception/
Of course, this happened when we didn't know what we didn't know.
Remember?
Of course, this happened when we didn't know what we didn't know.
Remember?
Jim, maybe you misunderstand my point. Your example (and mine) of a complication from a spider bite seems to support my point. It sounds like you had a staph infection so it wasn't venom from the spider that was life-threatening. You had to take a strong anti-biotic to cure your problem.
The source I read indicates that staph infections are antibiotic-resistant infections and they are more common in North America because of our over-use of antibiotics. I don't blame you for taking a stronger antibiotic to kill an antibiotic-resistant infection. But where does it end?
My point is that I'm not going to bring a can of poison on my boat to do battle with God's creatures just because I don't like the poop stains which accumulate on my shiny gel coat. I live with the stains because they are hard to remove, I wipe up the cob webs and when the buggers get particularly nasty-looking, I squash them to keep Sue from screaming at me. I also refuse to go to the doctor and get one of those nasty 6-pak prescriptions when I get the sniffles. Better living through chemistry has some merits, I'm sure, but I'll do my part to try to minimize the negatives. Or are you subscribing to the notion that there are no dangers with indiscriminate use of antibiotics, pesticides and other chemical poisons?
The source I read indicates that staph infections are antibiotic-resistant infections and they are more common in North America because of our over-use of antibiotics. I don't blame you for taking a stronger antibiotic to kill an antibiotic-resistant infection. But where does it end?
My point is that I'm not going to bring a can of poison on my boat to do battle with God's creatures just because I don't like the poop stains which accumulate on my shiny gel coat. I live with the stains because they are hard to remove, I wipe up the cob webs and when the buggers get particularly nasty-looking, I squash them to keep Sue from screaming at me. I also refuse to go to the doctor and get one of those nasty 6-pak prescriptions when I get the sniffles. Better living through chemistry has some merits, I'm sure, but I'll do my part to try to minimize the negatives. Or are you subscribing to the notion that there are no dangers with indiscriminate use of antibiotics, pesticides and other chemical poisons?
A friend of mine got bit in the back by a brown recluse? spider in NJ on his boat. He was in the hospital for a month. Spray away I say. Of course this is coming from someone who as a kid living in Panama used to ride our bikes behind the fogging trucks spaying DDT to keep the mosquitoes in check. I'm OK...... lol