How to deal with spiders in one's car?

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Sapphyre

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It seems that around this apartment, at this time of year, there's an explosion of small brown spiders. Maybe about the size of a quarter. One night there were so many dangling on threads from the awning of my front door that there was basically no way to get in or out of the house without encountering them. Earlier today, I got in my car to take a (thankfully short) trip to the grocery store, and there were spider silk strands all over the interior. Across the dashboard, across the passenger window, etc. One of the spiders crawled up on the dashboard before I got the car moving, and I smashed it... but I doubt it'll be the only one.

The problem with this is that I'm severely arachnophobic. The spiders are in all probability a perfectly harmless species (they're not brown recluse, I know how to identify those)... but if one of them crops up while I'm driving I very well might freak out and cause an accident. So they need to go.

I'm thinking the best strategy is to park out in a very sunny spot tomorrow, as the weather is supposed to be warm and clear, and hope that they roast in the heat.

Any other suggestions? o.o; Has anyone else had an issue like this before?
 
Sapphyre said:
It seems that around this apartment, at this time of year, there's an explosion of small brown spiders. Maybe about the size of a quarter. One night there were so many dangling on threads from the awning of my front door that there was basically no way to get in or out of the house without encountering them. Earlier today, I got in my car to take a (thankfully short) trip to the grocery store, and there were spider silk strands all over the interior. Across the dashboard, across the passenger window, etc. One of the spiders crawled up on the dashboard before I got the car moving, and I smashed it... but I doubt it'll be the only one.

The problem with this is that I'm severely arachnophobic. The spiders are in all probability a perfectly harmless species (they're not brown recluse, I know how to identify those)... but if one of them crops up while I'm driving I very well might freak out and cause an accident. So they need to go.

I'm thinking the best strategy is to park out in a very sunny spot tomorrow, as the weather is supposed to be warm and clear, and hope that they roast in the heat.

Any other suggestions? o.o; Has anyone else had an issue like this before?

Abandon the car, and dump it into a river, jokes aside you could use fly spray or pesticide.

Some fly sprays are designed to kill spiders, just don't use too much that you pass out the next day lol.
 
Binary said:
Abandon the car, and dump it into a river, jokes aside you could use fly spray or pesticide.

Pesticide is very risky. I'm allergic to many, in fact I have to carry an Epi-Pen in case I accidentally eat a salad or something else raw that isn't organic. I've had anaphylactic reactions to store-bought spinach salad, for example (and I eat cooked spinach all the time, plus organic spinach salads... it's the pesticide that causes the reaction). So, that COULD render my car completely unusable to me, if what I use happens to be something I react to. o.o;
 
There's some smells which spiders don't like, but I can't remember what; you could also try parking your car nearby a light source, but not too close, to tempt the spiders out to better [night timely lit] hunting grounds. And with the latter, you should find that 'your' spiders will also be whittled away by other spiders.
 
ade said:
There's some smells which spiders don't like, but I can't remember what; you could also try parking your car nearby a light source, but not too close, to tempt the spiders out to better [night timely lit] hunting grounds. And with the latter, you should find that 'your' spiders will also be whittled away by other spiders.
Mint. Most bugs can't stand mint.

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Butane spray can and a lighter! BURN the fuckers! :D
 
Moth balls but just a few they hate the smell under the seat like 2 or 3
 
I know pennyroyal will keep most bugs away. You can probably find pennyroyal oil. It has a somewhat minty aroma. But on a related note, yellowjackets don't like the smell of dryer sheets. My home has wooden shake siding and those buggers love building nests underneath them. So I shoved some dryer sheets under random shakes to drive them away. Might work in a vehicle too. Nobody needs a yellowjacket hovering in the air while you're trying to drive! That happened to me last week!
 
How are they getting into the car? Do you leave the windows open? They shouldn't be in your car if it's shut properly. I like spiders, but I do get creeped out by the larger ones. I simply remove the webs with a broom. Do that for a week and they will get deterred and move on. On the positive side, I usually like having most species around because they eat so many insects. I have many times cleaned up their refuse (dead insect carcasses) and let them live in corners of our house. Or, I'll catch them in a jar when they get too big and boot them out.
 
Spaz said:
How are they getting into the car? Do you leave the windows open? They shouldn't be in your car if it's shut properly. I like spiders, but I do get creeped out by the larger ones. I simply remove the webs with a broom. Do that for a week and they will get deterred and move on. On the positive side, I usually like having most species around because they eat so many insects. I have many times cleaned up their refuse (dead insect carcasses) and let them live in corners of our house. Or, I'll catch them in a jar when they get too big and boot them out.
Vehicles are not air tight. Usually crawl through the air vents in the dash

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ade said:
There's some smells which spiders don't like, but I can't remember what; you could also try parking your car nearby a light source, but not too close, to tempt the spiders out to better [night timely lit] hunting grounds. And with the latter, you should find that 'your' spiders will also be whittled away by other spiders.

There are some lights on that side of the house, so I may try this.

w0lfpack91 said:
Mint. Most bugs can't stand mint.

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Really? I didn't know that. Does it matter what type of mint? As it happens, spearmint grows wild not far from my doorstep. Not that it's come up yet this year...

ShortGuy said:
Butane spray can and a lighter! BURN the fuckers! :D

Aha! That's definitely the solution! ^.^

foxkits said:
Moth balls but just a few they hate the smell under the seat like 2 or 3

Spiders hate mothballs? I'm learning all kinds of new things in this thread, heh... I'll consider that, but see, I kind of hate mothballs too. ^^; But I'll keep it in mind as a possible last resort.

Tommycombs said:
I know pennyroyal will keep most bugs away. You can probably find pennyroyal oil. It has a somewhat minty aroma. But on a related note, yellowjackets don't like the smell of dryer sheets. My home has wooden shake siding and those buggers love building nests underneath them. So I shoved some dryer sheets under random shakes to drive them away. Might work in a vehicle too. Nobody needs a yellowjacket hovering in the air while you're trying to drive! That happened to me last week!

Fascinating. o.o I'm about as phobic of yellowjackets as I am of spiders. And I'm glad you didn't get into an accident with that yellowjacket in the car! That's always been a nightmare scenario for me that thankfully hasn't come to pass yet.

Spaz said:
How are they getting into the car? Do you leave the windows open? They shouldn't be in your car if it's shut properly. I like spiders, but I do get creeped out by the larger ones. I simply remove the webs with a broom. Do that for a week and they will get deterred and move on. On the positive side, I usually like having most species around because they eat so many insects. I have many times cleaned up their refuse (dead insect carcasses) and let them live in corners of our house. Or, I'll catch them in a jar when they get too big and boot them out.

No, the windows are tightly closed. I'm not entirely sure how they're getting in, but my guess would be through the air vents. There's actually one building a web in my apartment window... outside the glass but inside the screen. o_O Apparently they can squeeze through some small spaces, probably between the edge of the screen and the window frame (not that there's a visible gap).
 
I thought moth balls were just insecticide?

Parking your car in the sun might be the best option, understand through spiders don't like ecalyptus oil so maybe a teaspoon in an open glass jar sitting on your dash with the car parked in the sun with the windows up?

Your car will be pretty toxic with eye burning smell when you open the doors next though so be careful.

- - - Updated - - -

Just did some reading and sounds like they don't like white vinegar or peppermint oil so maybe a mixture of that... I would again be letting the sun disperse that in a car vapour wise rather than spraying it in a car with sensitive plastics and electronics.
 
Is burning the car an option? :laugh:
 
Oh my goodness this sounds absolutely horrifying 😳

I have no help to offer, but good luck!
 
I had an issue with spiders in my car last year, I stuffed a bug bomb in it over night and never had a problem again....that said, after you do it, it'd be wise to change your cabin air filter and maybe drive with your windows down for a while. Also, you should cover your seats and give it a good detailing after to get all the pesticide off the plastics (steering wheel, radio, and climate control switches especially)
This might not be the healthiest method, but it works :/

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