It’s a good year for spiders in Iowa, meaning it’s a bad year for Iowans who don’t like having to continually squish the legions of eight-legged pests. Dennis Ferraro, an urban pest control expert for the extension service, says many Iowans are finding this year’s bumper crop of spiders very hard to kill off.
Ferraro says, "You almost have to use a chemical spray or a fog because they just don’t come in on the baseboard or around the parameter of the house." Ferraro says you can get rid of spiders yourself without calling in an exterminator, but he cautions Iowans to carefully read the directions on any pesticides they buy.
"There is not much difference between the chemicals that are available to the public verses the chemicals available to the professional," Ferraro says. Ferraro says the wet, hot summer allowed spiders to thrive and they are more visible now because it’s their breeding time. He says Iowans who decide to tackle the problem themselves should do research on what chemicals are best for their specific spider problem.