Dallas is one of the most exciting places to live. We have entertaining attractions, delicious restaurants, and unique nightlife. Plus, we have some of the best weather for enjoying year-round outdoor time on our Dallas properties. However, this outdoor fun can often be plagued by the local pests, especially spiders. When you see a spider in your home, on your patio, or below the house, it can give you quite the scare. But do we really need to be worried? Usually, spiders don’t do anything worse than causing a minor freak out when we walk through their webs. While most spider bites are not dangerous, there are some cases when the danger of Dallas area spiders needs to be taken seriously.
Dangerous Dallas Spiders
While there could be a dozen or more spiders species hanging around your Dallas property, you really don’t have to worry about all of them. All spiders have fangs and venom. However, only two spiders in the United States are actually able to transfer that venom to humans: the brown recluse and the black widow.
The problem occurs when you’re not sure what kind of spiders you have on your property. You may see the webs or just some eight-legged home-invaders scurrying into cracks in your walls, but how can you tell if they’re a cause for concern or not?
For instance, brown recluse spiders are some of the most commonly mistaken spiders because of their features. They are tan or light brown with skinny legs that can be very difficult to see. However, they rarely grow larger than the size of a quarter, not including the legs. That will allow you to differentiate them quickly.
A larger brown spider on your property is most likely the wolf spider, which uses its speed to hunt down its prey rather than trapping it in webs. Another distinguishing feature of the brown recluse is the darker brown violin shape they almost always have on their backs, so watch out for this marking.
The black widow spider, on the other hand, is often confused for other black house spiders or garden spiders when only seen briefly. However, you should be able to differentiate a black widow due to its bulbous abdomen. These spiders are also pretty small (usually around the same size as a nickel, including the legs). The most famous feature on a black widow spider is the red hourglass marking on its abdomen, but it’s dark red against a black backdrop, so you’ll need to look closely.
In either case, a bite from one of these two spiders always requires medical treatment. Many black widow or brown recluse bites can result in permanent skin damage, neurological symptoms, paralysis, fever, nausea, and worse if not treated with antivenom promptly.
Dallas Spider Prevention
These spiders love hanging out in cluttered, low-traffic areas of your home where there will be the highest chance of catching their pest prey. One way to avoid a dangerous bite is to wear gloves when working under the house, in the basement, or outside in the yard in areas where these pests frequent. You’ll also want to be careful when reaching into any spaces that could serve as a shelter to these pests.
Other helpful general spider prevention tips include:
- De-webbing to discourage infestation
- Declutter to limit hiding spots
- Sealing up cracks and crevices to limit potential entry points
While these tips can help, there is nothing you can do on your own to guarantee a spider-free home. Instead, contact the pest control professionals at White Knight Pest Control for effective spider control and assistance you can count on.
At White Knight, our expert pest control technicians have years of experience dealing with spider infestations of every shape, size, and severity. When the eight-legged bugs come crawling, call us for help immediately and get them out!