Outbursts like the above are common at this time of the year, when a spider’s cover is blown, and it is forced to skitter this way and that along the wall or across the living room carpet to avoid being speedily smashed.
At this time of the tear, the eight-legged arachnids sneak into our homes and sheds for breeding time, and this year looks set to be a bumper one.
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That’s because of high summer temperatures combined with heavy rainfall, meaning there are lots of insects around for spideys to munch on.
Entomologists at the University of Gloucestershire have been monitoring social media for mentions of spiders, and say this year there are more posts than at the same time in 2018.
A team carried out a study in 2018 which found that the most active time for spiders during mating season was 7.35pm.
There was also a spike in reports between 6am and 8am – just when you’re in the bathroom getting ready for work.
One way to avoid spiders in your home is to keep doors and windows shut.
However, the reality is that house spiders are there already and there’s not that much you can do about them. But they love mess, such as piles of clothes, to try to keep things tidy.
How can I stop the spiders invading?
- 1. Clean up after yourself: Crumbs and dirt attract insects, which in turn attract the spiders who like to eat them. Don’t turn your home into a pop-up restaurant for arachnids – clean up those toast crumbs. See also dusting away cobwebs as soon as you see them. They might have egg sacs on them. Ewww.
- 2. Get rid of plants outside of your house: Got loads of plant pots and overgrown shrubbery underneath your ground floor windows? Piles of wood near your door? Is there ivy climbing up your walls? These are the perfect temporary housing for spiders who will then move into your home when they find a way in. Tidy up, prune, do what you need.
- 3. Seal up cracks and gaps: Don’t make it easy for them to come into your home.
- 4. Get a cat: Don’t get one purely for the spider-killing, but one bonus of having on is that they’ll chase them away for you.
- 5. Essential oils: Apparently spiders are really not keen on aromatherapy, so dilute some peppermint oil or eucalyptus oil with water into a spray bottle and spritz doors and windowsills daily. They’re not fans of tea tree oil, rose, cinnamon, citronella or lavender either, so get that oil burner out.
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