3 Important Facts About Wolf Spiders
Did you recently see a big spider scatter across the floor in your home? It it had hairy legs and a hairy body — and it was mostly brown in color with some darker stripes on its legs — it was probably a wolf spider. This type of spider is atypical in a few ways, so if you are noticing wolf spiders in your home, you will want to know the following facts.
Wolf spiders hunt their prey on foot.
Most spiders spin webs and use those webs to catch their prey, but not wolf spiders. They chase their prey down, pouncing on it and devouring it. They're very fast, which is why you will barely catch a glimpse of them as they scurry out of the way and hide underneath furniture. Wolf spiders are not picky and will eat any small insect, from an ant to a cockroach. If you are seeing a lot of wolf spiders in your home, this might be a sign that you have other bugs, too. You may simply not see a lot of the other bugs because the wolf spiders are eating them.
Wolf spiders are not dangerous.
Their name and their aggressive hunting tactics make them sound scarier than they really are. If you're an ant, you should be afraid of wolf spiders. But if you're a human, you don't have to be. These spiders do not aim to bite you. If you were to pick one up and really intimidate it, then it might bite, but the bite is still not venomous. You might have a little itching and redness, but that's about it.
Wolf spiders don't typically infest homes.
These spiders really do prefer to live outdoors. They will rarely breed inside, which means that all of the spiders you see in your home found their way inside -- they were not born there. As such, if you want to get rid of wolf spiders, you'll need to do a better job of sealing up your home. Apply caulk to cracks along any doors and windows. Have any cracks in the foundation filled, and make sure all of your screens are in tact. Clearing any brush or shrubbery away from the base of the home will keep spiders away, too, since wolf spiders like to hide beneath brush in the shade.
If you find wolf spiders in your home, don't panic. In spite of their name, these spiders are pretty harmless and are easy to get rid of.
For more information, contact companies like Godfather's Exterminating, Inc.
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