What Donelson Residents Need To Know About Wolf Spiders

If you prefer to not find creepy, hairy spiders inside your home, you’ve come to the right place. While this won’t be everything you need to know about wolf spiders, it will give you some quick facts to consider that can help you with wolf spider prevention.

What a Wolf Spider Looks Like

These furry spiders come in a variety of sizes and colors but you’ll usually be able to tell a wolf spider apart from other spiders by their hairy appearance. Most of the wolf spiders you’ll see in Tennessee are brown with two dark brown stripes on their backs. They range in size for ⅜ to 1 ⅜ of an inch for females and ¼ to ¾ of an inch for males.

Wolf Spider Detection and Prevention

Wolf spiders don’t create webs, so you’re not going to know if you have a wolf spider problem until you actually see a wolf spider. But you can recognize conditions that are conducive for wolf spider infestation, and addressing these conditions can help you make your yard and your home less inviting to these hunter spiders.

Like all spiders, wolf spiders are strongly motivated by the availability of food sources. The more food you have around your home, the more wolf spiders you’re going to have. But removing food sources can be tricky. It isn’t as simple as keeping your exterior trash in sealed cans. Wolf spiders don’t prefer the foods we eat. They hunt and eat crickets, grasshoppers, ants, spiders, and other pests. Areas that have pest activity are likely to have wolf spider activity.

How do you reduce the pests that wolf spiders eat? One way is by controlling moisture. Damp landscaping is a pest paradise. Make sure your gutters are clean of debris and channeling water away from your home. Put space between the plants in your landscaping to allow the wind to dry your topsoil after watering. Trim tree branches to let the sunlight dry densely shade areas.

Another way to control pests is to remove objects that sit in your yard, such as construction materials, wood piles, stored items, plastic crates, tires, and more. If an object has damp ground beneath it, it will create an environment for pests and a hunting ground for wolf spiders.

There are many ways to reduce creatures that wolf spiders feed on, but for the best control of bugs in your yard, the smart choice is to invest in a residential pest control plan. With routine and appropriate treatments performed by a licensed and experienced service professional, you’ll have the greatest success at reducing wolf spiders. And several of the pests that your residential pest service will control are far more dangerous than those creepy wolf spiders.
 
Drop us a line or schedule a visit with one of our friendly and educated service professionals. We’re here to help.