A few months ago we kept finding a sticky disorganized web spun between the break, the underside of the driver’s seat, and the underside of the lower part of the dash in our Forester. We finally saw the culprit – a black widow spider, and we vacuumed it up. Problem solved…for a while.
The web is back, presumably spun by a relative of the one we Hoovered. But this one is not showing it’s face. A thorough attempt to vacuum all the nooks and crannies under the seat, behind the pedals, and under the dash have not worked. The web keeps returning.
Any ideas other than fumigation with Raid?
Thanks!
This would be pretty hard to just ignore,I suggest a specialist. We had a sidewinder rattlesnake in the house a few days ago and I am really happy we caught that guy.I have some friends that have gotten snake bit and there is nothing pretty about it.
call the local animal shelter and see if they can offer advice for this. Last thing you want is to be driving down the road and the spider comes out and thinks you’re it’s next victim/meal.
What part of FORESTER do you not understand?
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How did you identify the spider?
No coaching from you other guys!
Just let it bite you, it’s not that bad.
not a expert, but i think spiders spin one web. if you have multiple webs i suspect multiple spidies.
Piter,
Are you speaking from experience?
Yep. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but I’m still interested in hearing how the spider was identified.
LOL about orangevega’s comment. except I’ve been working plenty around home construction and automotive since I was in highschool and am now 26 years old. Despite your question about any alternatives besides raid, I think you could totally use the specific type of bug bombs that are used in homes that settle into furniture, carpet, and into all the crevices around if you open the area door. All you have to watch out for are the things like food and maybe something you would put near your face you know, but it is always good to read the label before any poison is used. Haha you could do that and avoid a porfessionals bill and LET THAT POOR OLD PITER GUY GET THE SPIDER BITE and more power to the friendly witted do-it-yourselfer.
lol(~@#*!~~…while conumfuesedrr calls the err dog pound any solution to a wolf spider!!~~~~ahhhhhhhhh)Piter gets into car~drives and gets biten
Well said.
Well, “said”, anyway.
A few months ago, black widow spiders invaded my bedroom in this rickety little house where I’m living temporarily. It’s been decades since I’ve owned a can of Raid, so I searched the heck out of the internet for non toxic solutions.
Two recommendations keep springing up: 1) b.w. spiders do not like to walk on lemon oil, so I went to the supermarket and bought the cheapest bottle of lemon extract available. Then I wetted several cotton balls with it and stuffed it into areas where the spideys hung out. Voila! No more venomous demons.
Some of my sources suggested applying the lemon stuff to the ends of a broom and swiping walls, etc., In your car, you might try applying it with a small paintbrush or maybe even smear some on the area using a trusty cotton ball. I don’t know if lemon oil is available in large containers like orange oil is. I don’t think I’d bother to try the furniture oil that has lemon in it. because it might be too diluted to do the trick.
- Spray on a mixture of coconut oil and white vinegar, using 1/2 ounce of oil to 1 quart of vinegar. The oil is a soft solid at room temperature, so you might have to warm it some. Coconut oil can be bought at some grocery stores in the natural foods section and in most health food stores.
Spiders serve a helpful function by eating flies, mosquitoes and other unwanted pests, but why do some of them have to be so danged dangerous?
Wolf spider, the size of my fist, bathroom floor; made a loud crunching noise when I squished it.
Your tiny hands don’t seem to interfere with your typing. ;>)
On the off chance that someone also needs help with oldschool’s problem, get yourself a roadrunner; they kill and eat rattlesnakes.
People do too. Tasty, too. Just like… rattlesnake.
Don’t use a bug bomb as carvesnow4fun suggests. You’ll never get all the residue off of the windows or the smell out of the car, and I doubt it is going to do a lot of good for the electronics, switches, etc in the vehicle.
piter, the obvious joke response to that would involve mentioning your wife/girlfriend. hehe 
I didn’t know roadrunners killed rattle snakes, I thought they thwarted coyotes efforts to try and capture them to eat them. 
I identified the spider by observing it at night as it spun the web. Unmistakable red hour-glass on it’s underside.
Since posting I observed it again and saw it crawl to a small space under the dash. I sprayed Raid in the area and there has been no web or spider seen since!
Connect a hose to your exhaust pipe and the other end through a partially opened window and seal off the rest of that window with duct tape. Start the engine - GET OUT OF THE CAR - and let the fumes fill the car for 20 minutes. Then hold your breath, open the driver side door, get in, shut the engine off - GET OUT OFF THE CAR - open up all the other doors and air the car out for 20 minutes. Repeat if necessary.
I have been bitten by black widows three times in the past couple of weeks! I was in different states on a road trip, so the only thing in common was my car. I had thought about the carbon monoxide ‘cure’ to get rid of them, but didn’t know if that would kill the buggers. I’m going to try this out, and hopefully end this crazy syndrome I’ve fallen into! It hasn’t been pretty. My arm looks like a war zone! Thanks for the tip!