Garage Pests...

[Adam Cavaliere]

With the Summer approaching, I am wondering what you guys do to keep out Spiders and other bugs from the shop.

I have just gotten into this fun and expensive hobby! This will be my first full summer out there and I plan on keeping the garage door open a lot of the time. With that I know I will be opening up the possibility of more pests to enter easily. :eek:

So do you guys not care, use chemicals, or some other solution? :D

[Chris Padilla]

You *can't* keep them out so just learn to live with them! :)

[Jody Malinich]

Spiders love wood so you'll always have them. But be careful some spiders can cause alot of pain if bitten. All spiders in my shop are squished or take a trip thru the dust collector. I leave the ones outside alone because they do help control the other bugs.

[Adam Cavaliere]

Doesn't anyone use any powders or anything like that? I know a spray around the perimiter doen't really work because of their exoskelton not absorbing the poison.

I like to leave em alone outside, but inside, its fair game!

[Jason Beam]

Personally, i never thought to try. They don't get in the way, usually. If they do get in the way they don't survive long. Maybe because all I ever get is spiders it doesn't really 'bug' me much. If i got rodents or other bugs, it may be a different story.

[Prashun Patel]

Do all your work in red cedar - a natural insect repellant - and never sweep yr floor ;)

[Adam Cavaliere]

Now that is an idea! Though I doubt the Wife would be happy with it...

So for now I guess I have to suck it up and "be a man" about the spiders!

[Mark Patoka]

Any inside bugs just get sucked up by the shopvac if I ever actually clean the corners. I'll get mice in the garage occassionally so a few well-placed traps work. I found out that if I leave my garage doors open in the summer, birds have a tendency to fly in and then can't figure out how to get out of the garage.

I also had a skunk finds it's way into my garage one evening and lived in there for a week before I discovered him. Fortunately he never "sprayed" anything so I didn't detect the smell. From that point on I always make sure the garage door is closed at dusk, especially if I'm not in the garage.

[Chris Padilla]

Ah, the bird issue. Yes, I've had two birds on two separate incidents enter my open garage door.

My garage doesn't make it easy on them because it has a half-vaulted ceiling heading up to 12' at the ridge. Birds aren't accustomed to "going down" to escape danger/places so they have difficulty flying back down to leave. However, they usually figure it out after a few hours but it does take time. I would hope they might feast on the various spiders I have lurking up in those corners!

[Greg Peterson]

I think it was Thomas Jefferson that said "A weed is simply a plant whose virtue is unknown.". Perhaps a bug whose virtue is unknown would be called a pest by some?

It is far beyond my ability or desire to control the resident spider population. They have to eat something and chances are I'd rather have a few spiders than a lot of silver fish or whatever else spiders find tasty.

The cats seem to do a pretty job of keeping any rodents away, at least I haven't seen any evidence of 'em anywhere.

Black flies? Shop vac is pretty effective at getting them if they have exceeded my ability to tolerate them. Otherwise I try to get them outside if possible.

[Jim Becker]

What Chris said. And spiders are generally "good" folks as they help keep the population of other bugs down. If there are spiders, there is spider food: bugs.

This property is kept chemical free outside of poison ivy remedies and boric acid for ants.

[Jim O'Dell]

I mostly get wasps and bees. Oh, and lots of mosquitoes!! (darn that slow moving creek in the back yard!)
Hey Chris...you should have mounted one of those sky lights in the shop. You could open it up for the birds to escape!!:D:D Jim.

[Adam Cavaliere]

I realize that spiders tend to be good for the most part. At the same time I have a stupid fear of them that tends to take all reason out of the equation! I really have thought long and hard about this and there is really nothing else that I am afraid of when it comes to these kinds of things. Small little ones are a pain, but not really scary. It is those nasty fast moving ones that scare me. I'd rather not be jumping while using the router or table saw!

[Robert foster]

I wish that my animal problems were so small. I have the usual critters in my shop but my problem is having a ground hog under our modular house. I think he used to live under the old house that we tore down and thinks it is still his property. He has moved across the road but has been coming back occasionally. However after awakening from hibernation this spring he was determined to move back in. He has destroyed three vents etc and has avoided three live traps so far. While we were at church Sunday he broke out one of the vents even though I had left the access door open for him to leave. He hasn't been back since but he's still plotting a takeover i'm sure.

Bob

[Jim Becker]

Bob, I found the perfect solution for the ground hog that used to live under our deck and raise a new family every year...I put up a 2000 sq ft, two story addition with 30 yards of concrete in the foundation "right there". :D Not the cheapest solution, mind you...but quite effective! LOL

[Chris Padilla]

I mostly get wasps and bees. Oh, and lots of mosquitoes!! (darn that slow moving creek in the back yard!)
Hey Chris...you should have mounted one of those sky lights in the shop. You could open it up for the birds to escape!!:D:D Jim.

:D Yeah that *might've* worked had I gotten the kind that opened!! :eek: The ones I got are fixed. :)

[Robert foster]

Thanks Jim for the solution. I wish I had done things differently when we put our house here but we didn't think we had the funds to do it. I've had all kinds of advice on how to get rid of him, from live trapping to 12 gauge shotgun. My Highway Patrol friend said he would go under the house with a 22 pistol but hasn't shown up yet. I have a 12 gauge that I have never shot and I don't really like killing things but I'm getting close. The trouble is you have to see him when you have the gun and he is close enough to shoot. I've only seen him (?) once this year and that not long enough to do anything about it. We haven't given up but it sure is exaspareting.(?)

Have a good evening.

Bob

[Don Bullock]

Because we have quite a few dogs, we have a service that comes about once a month. The chemical they use is "environmentally friendly." Yes, I realize that some don't want to do that, but it really works. We haven't seen a flea on one of our dogs in many years nor do have problems with spider bites on our dogs. My garage shop is spider free as a result.

As for the critters like gophers, ground hogs and ground squirrels, the bassets take care of them. We had one ground squirrel that used to taunt our dogs as he ran along the wall that surrounds our yard. One day he got too bold and we found him dead in their yard. Even the gopher we had has decided that he'd rather dig up someone else's yard.:D

[Jim Becker]

Bob, our "hog" was fairly bold and the babies quite inquisitive and cute. We could sit on the old deck and they'd "play" only a few feet away.

[glenn bradley]

Smoosh 'em when I sees 'em.

[Jim O'Dell]

:D Yeah that *might've* worked had I gotten the kind that opened!! :eek: The ones I got are fixed. :)

Another chance to upgrade!!!! :cool: You know you want the power controlled unit with the remote...just admit it! :D:D Jim.

[Rich Imlay]

You call that a spider?????

Now in Australia we have real spiders......nasty snakes too....but let's not go there.

Paul Hogan aka Crocodile Dundee said that a funnel web spider could kill you from eight feet away...."just by lookin' at ya" not quite as bad as that but From wikipeadia


"Funnel-webs are probably one of the three most dangerous spiders in the world and are regarded by some to be the most dangerous.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasian_funnel-web_spider#_note-MJA2005-Isbister)
Examination of bite (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_bite) records seems to indicate that wandering males (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Male) have caused a large majority of fatal bites to humans, however this has not been proven. Males, recognised by the modified terminal segment of the palp (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedipalp), are aggressive and tend to wander during the warmer months of the year looking for receptive females of their kind for mating (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_intercourse).[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasian_funnel-web_spider#_note-0) They are attracted to water and hence are often found in swimming pools where they have fallen while wandering. They also show up in garages "(that's shops for you american fellows) "and yards in suburban Sydney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney).
While some very venomous spiders may give dry bites, these spiders do so much less frequently. It appears that approximately 10% to 25% of bites will produce toxicity[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasian_funnel-web_spider#_note-MJA2005-Isbister) but the likelihood cannot be predicted and all should be treated as potentially life-threatening."



Now are you really worried about pests in your shop?:eek:

[Adam Cavaliere]

It is what is keeping me out of Austrailia!

[Tim Thomas]

Adam, I hired an exterminator a few months ago and have been very happy with the results. I resisted this for a while because I didn't like the idea of chemicals being sprayed around my house, but the bug problem was just getting out of hand. During the first year I lived in this house the bugs weren't too bad, but there was a severe drought this summer and through the fall and I think that played a large part in sending more bugs inside. The chemicals used where a lot safer than I had anticipated, with no special precautions needed to protect children or pets. There was no smell that I could detect and the spray didn't discolor any of my walls or flooring.

As for spiders, I have noticed that I have a lot fewer of them around now. I don't think the spray affects them, but if the spray kills the spider's food source, then I think the spiders have no reason to stay. I'm no expert on the subject, this is just what I have observed in my home. Your mileage may vary, no guarantees express, written or implied, proceed at your own risk, objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear.

[David G Baker]

Personally, i never thought to try. They don't get in the way, usually. If they do get in the way they don't survive long. Maybe because all I ever get is spiders it doesn't really 'bug' me much. If i got rodents or other bugs, it may be a different story.
Jason,
When I lived in Sacramento Black Widows were very plentiful, usually found in dark corners of your out buildings or garage. I would go looking at night with a flash light and Aquanet hair spray, I would usually find 3 or 4 every evening.

[David G Baker]

Adam,
I use a Black Flag smoke bomb type of bug killer in my out buildings and it works great for me. I get thousands of Box Elder bugs and hundreds of Stink bugs, they get into everything. I have found them in places where I have no idea of how they got there.
I have the "As Seen On TV" removable screens that I hang over my open walk through doors and heavy duty shade screen over my large roll up door in my shop.
I am located in a semi rural area, have a small skeeter breeding swamp, and enough stinging type of critters to keep an exterminator busy year round.
The only spider that I have heard of that is a serious potential danger in my area is the Brown Recluse. I have seen the results of their bite, it is horrible. According to the experts there aren't any in my area and this causes problems because of this denial folks nearly die or actually die because the doctors believe the experts and the patient goes through he** prior to finally getting diagnosed and treated.
I have a lot of rodents and go through many boxes of the green pellets every year.

[Doug Shepard]

Any insects that find themselves within about a 2-1/2 to 3 ft leap of my ace bughunter are history. She's gotten numerous spiders, house flies and mosquitos. Watching her try for fireflies at night is entertaining as their light flickers on and off and they dont seem to make any sound, but she's gotten a few of those too.
83919

Last summer she managed to snag a chipmunk by the tail too that kept sneaking under the garage door. She marched up and dropped him at my feet. Only then did I realize it was still very much alive when it bolted off with BOTH cats and the dog in hot pursuit.

[Michael Gibbons]

Bob, our "hog" was fairly bold and the babies quite inquisitive and cute. We could sit on the old deck and they'd "play" only a few feet away. Sorry, Jim, a rodent is a rodent and a .22 lr takes care of that. My MIL has horses and a groundhog can make holes big enough for a horse to break it's leg in so they have to go.

[Keith Beck]

Adam,
I use a Black Flag smoke bomb type of bug killer in my out buildings and it works great for me.

Like David, I just periodically light off a bug bomb as I'm leaving the shop. It's made a big difference in the amount of spiders I see.

Keith

[Al Willits]

Pump up pellet rifle takes care of the squirrels, although having their nest (tree) come down will probably decrease there numbers a bit...

Birds are usually easy, pick a bright day cover your windows and leave the door facing the sun open, its worked the two times its happened to me.

I don't think we get the bug problem you guys in the south have, winters seem to do a bunch of the little buggers in here.

Al

[Jerome Hanby]

Saw something on DIY about spiders not liking eucalyptus leaves. I bought a bundle at Hobby Lobby to try, but haven't deployed them yet.

[Bryan Rocker]

When I lived in Oklahoma, my shop and garage were overrun with brown recluse spiders. I used sticky traps to catch them. I would have 20+ spiders on them before I threw them away. We also had HUGE spiders making webs as big as a person between the trees all over the place. It game LOML fits, she is phobic of spiders. We lived there less than 2 years and none of us were bitten but I can now very quickly identify brown recluse spiders......If you do some research you will find many spiders are not affected by poisons. Here in Ohio we have small web weavers which my shop vac handles quite nicely ;)

[Adam Cavaliere]

If you do some research you will find many spiders are not affected by poisons.

I have done my research on the poisons! It seems only powders are the way to get to them, but I still don't know how effective those can be and they probably get blown around too.

[Mike SoRelle]

I use Orkin for my house/attached garage shop and what he does in in the shop is hose down the door and threshold area with whatever outside product they use to create a barrier, then he sticks a couple of glue traps right inside next to both sides of the door.

Those things catch ALOT of spider and other various creepy crawlies. He basically explained that they will usually follow along the perimeters as they enter, so by putting the sticky traps there you're essenially funnelling them through the traps.

I do have to say it works pretty well, he comes every 2 months and 5 or 6 weeks after he's been here I'll often see dead things lying just outside the door where he sprayed the barrier, so I'd say they do persist pretty well. As to what they may or may not do to the environment or people I really can't say nor do I really want to start that debate :)

I am however happy with the results, it's seldom that I come across anything that's actually *inside* the shop area, and as others have mentioned, the DC does a fine job of 'relocating' anything that makes it past the frontline defenses.

[Jeff Hallam]

For me the problem is noisy crickets. For some reason we get thousands of them here and they always find there way into the shop. The cats then partially dismember them and leave cricket parts everywhere. Of course there is always one hiding somewhere that I can't reach so the shop is never quiet.

[Rod Sheridan]

When I saw the title "Garage Pests" I thought it related to family members who don't understand how to put tools back, or neighbours who want to borrow tools they don't want to purchase.

Regards, Rod.

[James Carmichael]

Like Jim said, spiders don't bother me, so I don't bother them. The only two worth worrying about here in N. TX are the black widow and brown recluse (aka fiddleback). Both species like dark, damp environs, and shouldn't be a problem in the shop, unless it's in your basement. There's always a black widow in my wellhouse, I just leave it.

The most annoying pests in my garage are the aforementioned mosquitoes. Racoons will visit if I leave the door open at night, and there's trash for them to get into. Occaisionaly mice, and a rattlesnake on the back porch.

[James Carmichael]

When I saw the title "Garage Pests" I thought it related to family members who don't understand how to put tools back, or neighbours who want to borrow tools they don't want to purchase.

Regards, Rod.

LOL Rod!

Those are the most annoying and unwelcome of all vermin!

[Adam Cavaliere]

Like Jim said, spiders don't bother me, so I don't bother them. The only two worth worrying about here in N. TX are the black widow and brown recluse (aka fiddleback). Both species like dark, damp environs, and shouldn't be a problem in the shop, unless it's in your basement. There's always a black widow in my wellhouse, I just leave it.

The most annoying pests in my garage are the aforementioned mosquitoes. Racoons will visit if I leave the door open at night, and there's trash for them to get into. Occaisionaly mice, and a rattlesnake on the back porch.

Thanks for reminding me why I don't want to live in Texas... :D

[Rob Russell]

You call that a spider?????

Now in Australia we have real spiders......nasty snakes too....but let's not go there.



We were in Australia for 3 1/2 weeks in October, 2004. Spent a week in Sydney, few days out a Uluru, week up in Cairnes and a week down in Miami. I remember the warnings about the spiders, especially around Sydney.

Australia definitely has some unusual - and lethal - critters!

[Ed Garrett]

My shop once had bugs, particularly roaches, but about 10 years ago my house and shop got overrun by geckos. They are voracious bug eating machines. No more bugs, but now I have geckos crawling over everything.

Sincerely,
Ed Garrett

[allan cripe]

I had a 3 day vacation in a hospital about 3 months ago as a result of a spider bite.......I have respect for them, but I definately do not wish to cohabitate in the garage (where I was bitten).

I have heard that diatomaceouse earth (the swimming pool filter media), sprinkled around the perimeter of your house, garden, etc. will eliminate all insects (and arachnids for that matter). DE is simply ground up fossils, when the insects step on the powder, it is sharp enough to pierce their exoskeletons, and they subsequently dry out and die quickly. I have not tried this, but it certainly sounds plausible. I also know that boric acid works as well(as Jim mentioned earlier). I used to put that around my deer blind....Lots of fire ants in texas!!!!

[Dan Barr]

priceless!

i think i could handle a gecko problem. its when the spider drops down on his silk right in the middle of your shop and you dont realize it until youve walked into the little varmint. now that bothers me.

ciao,

dan