I sometimes get asked how dangerous brown recluse spider bites are. The truth is that most bites from brown recluse spiders do not cause harm – approximately 90%. Deaths do occur, but not very often. Maybe 1 every five or ten years. The risk is highest for older people and small children. Especially children with kidney risk or damage. The main symptom to watch out for is dark brown urine. Otherwise, for most people, they can get a cortisone shot and hope for a fast healing.
How do we treat for brown recluse spiders? It is a total structure treatment. We start in the attic and usually try to apply dust. We also apply a residual spray throughout the structure. We also take off the outer electrical wall outlet covers and treat inside the walls. Sometimes we fog with a pyrethrin product to give a quick kill. It is also important to place lots of insect monitors (sticky traps) throughout the structure, not only to reduce the populations, but to give an ongoing diagnosis of the population levels.
