When Spiders Take Over Your Porch: How to Wrest Back the Comfort of Your Porch from the Sticky Grip of Spiders
During the Aussie summer, from December to February, there's nothing better than escaping the suffocating confines of your home to relax on your porch in the early evening, cradling a cool drink as you read a book and listen to nature's nighttime song. However, you might find that you're not the only one enjoying the comfort of your porch. Unfortunately, summer, especially one as hot as this one with temperatures soaring in Sydney last December, often means that your porch becomes a haven for spiders, and a mausoleum for insects.
What makes it worse, is that they are often sitting in their webs right above your head. If you have tried and failed to win back the comfort and privacy of your porch from these eight-legged web weavers, you are probably on the verge of calling in the spider control professionals.
That's probably a good idea as spiders in the wild often live for up to 3 years while reproducing all year round. However, if you are intent on driving out the spiders on your own, here are some useful tips to help you keep spiders off your porch for good.
Cut off Their Food Supply
Spiders often build webs up high around outdoor lights in order to snag some the thousands of insects that are drawn to the light at night. If you are using standard lighting to illuminate your porch then you are providing spiders with the perfect hunting ground.
Take away their food source and their numbers will dwindle. Instead of using standard light bulbs, invest in some yellow "bug lights" as they attract fewer insects due to the yellow or orange hue that they give off.
Make Your Yard a Bird Haven
Birds love to gorge themselves on spiders and insects. The more birds your yard has, the fewer spiders you'll have weaving webs above your head. Place bird nests and bird feeders around your yard, as well as a bird bath, to attract more birds.
Eliminate the Nooks and Crannies
Spiders don't hang around in their webs all day. They need nooks and crannies in which to rest. They tend to come out on summer evenings when the air is rich with insects. If you remove all the possible places that a spider could retreat to when it isn't sitting in it's web, you will reduce the chances of them taking over your porch.
This probably means you might need to spend a day sweeping spiders out of their homes, before seeking out and filling in every possible hole, crack and crevice that they might use as resting spots. However, once you are done, you'll see a reduction in the amount of spiders hanging precariously over your head on summer evenings.