Brown Widows--HELP!!

[GlimR]

I am in florida and the we've had rain everyday for months...it is very damp and lots of vegetation. I remulched my play area today and DH and I had removed all the toys, climbers, etc...for that...we went to put them back in this everning and found MANY, MANY brown widow spiders and their egg sacks. This is NOT good!!! Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

I run a family child care program and have a beautiful, huge framed in play area. DH sprayed everything down with a bug killer but I am freaking out....because of the spiders AND the chemicals!!!

Any suggestions???

[tinystrawberry]

oh my god that sounds so scary. widows!

i found this when i was googling about it:


"Natural Ways to Get Rid of Spiders
Posted by Tiffany at 4:16 pm in A Green Home. Hugg this | add to sk*rt | Stumble It

Once the weather warms up it is common to find your house has become a spider habitat. Now this is not necessarily a bad thing because spiders are very useful in eating bugs. So unless the spiders that have taken up residence in your house are of the dangerous variety like the Brown Recluse or the Black Widow it may be wise to just live and let live. By trying to eliminate spiders from your house you may just be making it a more hospitable place for numerous other creepy crawlies.

That being said this is a tough situation for me personally because I am borderline arachnophobic after being bitten eight times by Black Widow spiders when I was a child. I won’t go into the heinous details but it was not a very pleasant experience. I am less then thrilled when I see spiders in the house so I am very sympathetic to those who do not want to share their house with eight legged friends. I like to leave the web spinners alone but I usually will try to get rid of hunter spiders, like the Brown Recluse. If you absolutely cannot live with them or they pose a danger to your small children here are a few natural ways to get rid of spiders.

1. Clean house! Spiders like cardboard and clutter, so clean up all cardboard and make sure closets and underneath beds are clean and without places to hide. And do not leave clothing, towels, and other debris on the floor where spiders can find refuge.
2. Clear out unwanted vegetation from around your house, including Ivy or other vines, which are a haven for them. Seal all cracks that may lead spiders indoors.
3. Keep trash bags and bins away from the house where spiders will lay in wait for bugs that are attracted to the garbage.
4. Cover pet food.
5. Use natural deterrents wherever you see spiders:

• Eucalyptus leaves
• Hedge Apples or pieces of Hedge Apples also called Osage orange
• Pennyroyal on a scrap of cloth
• Baking soda

Natural deterrents for other pests:

Ants: Bay leaves, cucumber peels sprinkled with salt, Cayenne pepper, chili pepper, dried peppermint, paprika, cinnamon, dried sage.

Flies: Whole or ground cloves in a small muslin teabag, flypaper made with honey."

from : http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/2006/05/

[GlimR]

Thank you Molly....appreciate the ideas and I will def. file those away for inside...thank goodness they are outside and are hiding in every crevice of the toys in the playground. Found more today and am really NOT happy about this at all. I hate and never use any kind of fake chemical products but if I can't find something less harmful I am going to buy some bug spray...they could make a child quite ill and cause a flesh eating bite site.

I can't believe how many of them there are.