Seal any cracks or crevices around the home.
Spiders can crawl into homes through damaged window screens or cracks in the siding. The outside of homes should be inspected for these defects seasonally as weather and changes in temperature can cause or worsen existing problems.
Inspect items such as boxes of decorations and grocery bags before bringing them indoors.
Packages are often left on the front step if delivered when you’re not at home, and groceries might be placed on the driveway while unloading. These are opportunities for spiders and other pests to crawl onto bags and boxes and be carried inside. Inspecting packages before bringing them into your home reduces this risk.
If a spider bites you, contact your primary care physician for medical advice.
Species such as house spiders and cellar spiders pose no health threat to people. They don’t have very strong mouthparts, so if they tried to bite, they wouldn’t be able to pierce the skin. These spiders are simply nuisance pests, but they are much better off living and laying eggs outside.
Other species such as black widow spiders and brown recluse spiders do have the ability to pierce the skin and inject venom. Their bites cause varied reactions in people, but are very rarely fatal with proper treatment. Symptoms include localized pain, fever and nausea. In the case of a brown recluse spider bite, there’s also a possibility for skin necrosis at the site of the bite.
