Spiders and Mites

Spiders get a bum rap for bites that other arachnids inflicted.  Most doctor-diagnosed “spider bites” are from mites, lice, ticks, or bed bugs.  Spiders are considered beneficial, unless they are leaving web strings where you walk into them with your face, or they are turning your house into the set for a hollo’een movie.
They are generally easy to kill when necessary, and we like to take the webs down when we treat.

There are two types of spider in Kentucky which create problems when they bite, the black widow spider (really hurts) and the brown recluse spider (you will probably need a skin graft), the widow showing up outside, and the recluse showing up inside.  Neither transmits disease.

Fowl mites do transmit disease from the birds they left before they found you.  Our experience has been that most “spider bites” are actually from these mites, and there is a recently vacated bird nest, or a dead bird, in the near vacinity.
The pattern of the bites is a good clue.  Give us a call.

Black widow spiders.  They like to live under basketball goal bases…

…or in a window.

Brown recluse spiders, being reclusive, live in attics or around fire places, or any where they can find cover.

Northern Fowl Mites

These little guys are the source of a lot of bites.  You usually don’t see them, even when you are looking at them.  This black deck furniture gave the perfect backdrop.  Take a look.  They can transmit disease.

This is the deck from below.  The birds left the nests, and the mites moved up to the furniture above.

Garden spiders are much bigger, but more friendly, and like to live out in the open, where they spin magnificent webs.

When treated with the right material, they put out several lines of silk at the same time.  I finally got a good photo of the effect.  Notice how it looks like the spider is hanging from small violin strings.  You may have to click on the photo a couple times to blow it up enough, but it’s worth it.