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Welcome to another episode of the faith pest control Podcast. I’m Mike Stewart, your host, and today we’re going to be talking about Wolf Spiders. Yes. Did you know Jasper Georgia Blue Ridge, Georgia Ellijay, Georgia, big canoe, Georgia, really all over North Georgia. There are wolf spiders crawling all over the place. And pest expert Fred Talley today is here to tell us all about the wolf spider. So Fred, the virtual microphone is your floor and tell us all about Wolf Spiders. All right, Mikey. Really, I’ve got some random information. Answering. I guess some of the more common questions I get about Wolf Spiders. A little bit, just a little bit about their biology first. Some of the most common spiders in Georgia are Wolf Spiders. They’re large and hairy. Have a like a striped marble pattern on their back kind of helps them blend blend into their environment. They’re actually typically ground dwellers. In Georgia, the spiders kind of range from maybe a quarter inch to inch and a quarter inch and a half large. The females are slightly larger than males more to help them in laying more eggs. They normally have their either tan, dark brown, gray or black in color. So all natural colors besides their size and color, their two large eyes in the middle row of their head or another feature that kind of makes them more easily distinguishable. Kind of cool. If you’re a spider nerd at night, if you if you walk outside hold the flashlight beside your head. And as you walk shine it on the ground and you can see you can get a reflection from the wolf spiders eyes kind of a sparkle or glitter if you will. It is one of the largest spiders in the state. However, a wolf spider can enter your home through a hole no larger than a dime. Not unlike other paths spiders are also attracted lights and outdoor lights can will will attract will spiders. In general, Wolf Spiders are not as in most insects, they’re not aggressive to humans. However, if they feel threatened, they can and will become aggressive and possibly by you. Is a spider that spends most of their time wandering around in hunting they they don’t have a way of they don’t live in a web. These spiders live on or near the ground and they’ll hide under rocks. Inside cracks and crevices in woodpiles. The live in shrubs and bushes and burros that are in the ground. They’ll hide in the lawn in other dark secluded areas. Again, they only typically by if feel threatened or if you mishandled them if you’re if you pick them up and mishandled them. Wolf Spiders do jump when hunting their prey. The wolf spider will often pounce on it and often this time this distance they can jump it can be pretty impressive however, that distance depends on which species of wolf spider they are. They are not prone to jump on humans though. It’s it’s a I guess an offensive act against their prey is when they use the was when they jump or pounce. One question I get a good bit in sometimes it’s confusing to me, but it’s the people ask is it possible possible for wolf spiders to climb in their bed? It’s very possible, but extremely unlikely. Is Wolf Spiders. They don’t like human interaction. They prefer dark spots that are low to the ground so that they can stay hidden hidden. Another I think pretty interesting thing about him is when the female wolf spider when her eggs hatch, the young spiders climb onto the mother’s back and she will carry them until they’re large enough to be able to hunt and kind of fend for themselves. You know, I think it’s a natural reaction. If you see a spider on the ground, you just step on squish it. But that would be a a an error in judgment I guess on a female wolf spider. That’s scary. In her babies, because if you squish a mama wolf spider that’s caring or young, what you inadvertently do is you’re sending dozens of her baby spiders often to the various cracks and crevices which may be around your house as their defense mechanism is run. While rather intimidating due to their size, it is my experience that most people have some kind of phobia about spiders. But so, you know that being said they do not you know, they they can and will be inside your home, but they do not damage your home or even threaten you know, Hillman human health is, as I said earlier, they are not aggressive, unless provoked. They do eat other insects, so they are often referred to as beneficial. If you think about that term, you know, beneficial insects, so, subterranean termites are also beneficial. As they’re they their job for our society is to consume the dead limbs and fallen trees and in our forests, kind of went down a rabbit hole there, I’m sorry. In the wild. Brown Recluse spiders have a number of natural predators, and the wolf spider is a predator to the brown recluse. Some of the predators of Wolf Spiders, though, interestingly, is birds, reptiles and Rhodus. All of these other pests that are not necessarily insects, but they are they’re not insects, but they could easily become pest, Wolf Spiders as a part of their menu as well. If your pet so common question What happens if a pet gets bit by a wolf spider. Typically, the pet is most likely going to be bitten on the pole or the lower portion of their leg because they’re going to step on the spider when they’re walking to the grass or something. They’re most likely just going to limp around and probably lick the bite site. But unless you see the spider on him biting him, it’s extremely difficult him or her, it’s extremely difficult to specifically identify, you know what did bite the pet. While spiders are what the pest control industry would term an occasional invader. During the warmer months I prefer to live outdoors is outdoors, they have a steady food supply and pretty much the steady water supply. They’ll live in the hollows of trees and not holes and trees and that kind of thing. But when we start transitioning from summer in the fall like now when the temperatures start cooling off, that will encourage them if you will to seek shelter, you know in an in and around our homes. A common entry point for wolf spiders into your home is under exterior doors. Deer at the time that you’re you’re running your heating system, especially if you have a poor seal at the bottom of some of your exterior doors, they can feel that warrants come out through there and that will kind of signal them to to try to get in at that point. In your yard, it can be common to see Wolf Spiders, if the soil is fairly loose, and porous. If it’s loose and porous, it gives the spider an opportunity to dig a burrow in the ground. If you remember a few minutes ago I said that they will live in burrows on the ground so they create their own their home there. Contrary to popular belief will spiders do not come up to your plumbing system they will drown. They may end up in your sink your toilet or their bathtub. But they fall in there. They might have crawled up to the top seeking the water source but they will fall down into the bowl of the toilet. The sink or down in the bathtub and they can’t get out because it’s too slick. You know they have a need for water so they’re drawn to these locations. That would be the reason why you would commonly find them there. Here’s some tips that may help you to prevent having a wolf spider problem in your home. Clean up debris outside don’t leave grass clippings, pile up leaves piles of lambs laying around they will be natural, they will gravitate to those areas naturally mow the lawn regularly so the grass doesn’t get too high. clean your gutters, they will live in the in and under the leaf litter that gathers in your gutters, I recommend everybody have them clean at least twice a year, once a year at a bare minimum twice a year would be optimal. Eliminate food crumbs by vacuuming and sweeping frequently. Don’t leave food overnight, especially your pet food and their pet food and water. Use an interior trashcan in the kitchen that has a well fitting lid. You know these are kind of common sense things repair leaky faucets and pipes, seal the exterior of the home by saying sealing up cracks, holes and gaps that penetrate from the exterior to the interior. If you remember, in the beginning, I said that they they only need a hole about the size of a dime. And this one is a big one to declutter your home, on the interior, remove extra cardboard boxes, newspapers, bags, et cetera. If this was the only prevention measure you implemented, you could be probably far ahead of the game. The bigger problem I go in that I find when I go into a home is excessive clutter inside the home is always here at faith. If we offer a free consultation, as well as a 100% make you happy, money back guarantee. If you hire fetes pest control to get rid of your wolf spider problem, and at the end of 30 days, you’re not 100% Happy, we’ll come back and retreat your home for free. And we’ll keep on trading it for free until you tell us that you’re happy. If that still doesn’t make you happy, we’ll give you back every penny you spent on the original treatment. Plus, we’ll pay you an additional $25 for your time, time and trouble just for fooling with us. I don’t know of another pest control company that will do that to make you that offer. Bottom line is this. You will be happy with the service we provide. Or you won’t pay a penny period. That’s how confident we are in our high degree of customer service, and our commitment to doing the job right. If you like feel like what I’ve said makes sense. Call us today fates pest control 770-823-9202 and ask to speak to me, Fred tally. I’ll be more than happy to speak with you and answer any questions that you may have. Well, Fred, thank you again for great information. Now, we all know more about the wolf spider. We do this podcast as a community service and public service to the fine folks of Jasper, Blue Ridge. llj. At Big canoe anywhere, pretty much any resident in North Georgia, you got a pest problem. You call Fred Talley at Faith pest control, and you can listen to our podcast Be sure to listen to it, share it like it, subscribe to it. It’s an Apple, Amazon, Spotify, Google and on the web at our website. We do this to help you have a pest free home and until next time. This is the faith pest control podcast
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
