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MIDVALE — Tami Savage and her family are dealing with a problem they never expected when they moved into their home — a massive spider infestation. Their deck is more of a war zone these days, since every little step turns up a spider.
"Every time I've smashed a nest … all the baby spiders come running out," Tami said.
The family recently started catching the spiders to diagnose their problem and found dozens of hobo, grass, wolf and black widows spiders. They now believe there are hundreds of arachnids hatching inside the deck, just looking for a way to get inside their home.
"The first day that we went out there and started actually hunting for them, we got 15 of them within an hour," Tami said.
Though they've captured dozens in Tupperware "cages," they also have more creative eradication methods.
"I have a spider-smashing flip-flop I usually use," Tami said.
Twelve-year-old Vinny Savage said the unwelcomed guests scared him at first, but "… after a while I just started calming down."
The Savage family isn't sure what to do about all the spiders and the growing number of egg sacs lurking in the deck. Spraying was discouraged by a scientist from Utah State University, who told them spraying may push the spiders towards the house.
Instead, he recommended sticky traps, door sweeps, weather-stripping and screens to manage where the spiders go.
Eliminating the problem altogether, however, could be much tougher.
"Unless we were to seal off all the way around the deck, getting rid of the railroad ties (on the deck) will only get rid of part of the problem," Tami said.
For now, the family gets more comfortable with a lot of creepy, crawly company.
A lot of people hear "hobo spider" and worry about necrosis from a bite, but scientists say the research on that has been inconclusive.
However, some common sense tips are advised, especially as the weather turns colder and more spiders make their way indoors. Among those are pulling beds eight inches away from the walls and removing bed skirts.
