British comedian Ricky Gervais likes the look of Australian beaches – and as an animal lover, he also loves our cute little Koalas. But he refuses to come here. Why? “You’ve got the most dangerous spiders, and you walk around in flip-flops,” he said in an interview.
But are our spiders really that bad? Well, not all of them. But there are a few you should really be wary of, and one of them has that iconic red stripe on its back.
If you find a redback in your home, you should get rid of it. But where there’s one there’s more, so for the safety of your family that raises the question we’ll answer in a moment – how to get rid of red back spiders?
The worst thing about redback spiders is not that they are venomous. Think about it: if they all lived 100 kilometres from the nearest human, that’s no big deal. But redbacks actually love to live right near us and our homes.
Why? Redback spiders, found throughout Australia, love places that are dark, dry and warm. It’s common to find them inside children’s toys like Tonka trucks that are left out in the back yard and sand pits. Inside shoes or garden sheds, letterboxes and cubbies are also places redback spiders are found.
Want to get rid of redbacks? The first step is to identify them…
What does a Redback Spider look like?
You can’t contemplate how to get rid of red back spiders if you can’t spot them. Luckily, nature has put a bright red stripe on the back to help.
But that’s only the adult female. Juvenile females are actually brown with white markings, while the males lack the red stripe, are brown and generally much smaller.
Because the male redback is smaller, so are the fangs – so it’s actually rare to be bitten by one. A bite from the larger female is highly venomous and painful. Although rarely serious for adults a redback spider bite can definitely still be very harmful to kids and the elderly.
If you can’t spot redback spiders, look for their home – that’s a definite trick of red back spider pest control. It’s much easier to see redback spiders if you find their distinctively messy web.
How to Get Rid Of Red Back Spiders
1. Spring clean!
It doesn’t have to be Spring to clean!
There are plenty of places redbacks like to hide, including under outdoor furniture, trampolines, wood piles and also in gardening gloves and clothing (and plenty of other places!). The best way to locate them is to be extremely careful, and start cleaning up more regularly.
Wood heaps, piles of scraps and garden waste or old tyres are great places for redbacks to live, so think about relocating them away from the home. Stacking anything against your walls is basically just inviting a nasty redback to set up camp. Getting rid of redbacks starts with minimising places for them to inhabit.
2. Remove the webs
If you vigilantly get rid of spider webs, you basically starve the spider.
An easy way to disrupt the web and also those red back spider eggs is to get a stick and twist it until the web is destroyed. But please be careful. When you’re doing your DIY redback spider disruption, make sure to wear enclosed shoes and gloves.
3. Don’t forget the ceiling
If you find those pesky red back spiders keep coming, it’s time to get out the ladder and look in the roof cavity.
One client noticed a lot of redbacks in their house and a few in the actual downlights. The roof void was checked, and a serious infestation was found there.
4. Call in the pros
Especially as the warmer months start to loom, do consider calling in local pest control experts like Cannon Pest Management. We can thoroughly check your house and garden for all the most likely redback hiding spots, and they know everything about the critter’s habits, lifestyle, and vulnerabilities.
How to get rid of redback spiders? It’s simple: Contact Cannon Pest Management today!
