ptquilts

OMG Don't do that!! It can explode!!

Chasing Hawk

LOL, I lost count on how many of those little creatures my vacuum has accidentally ate in the past. Usually I leave them alone, if they don't chase me around the house, let them be.

Chasing Hawk

She probably does this so he won't see how much she spent and the fabric store...........lol

Rose_P

Thank you, leonf and ptquilts! I didn't think about the flammability of it, but wondered about the way a vacuum might disperse the fumes. I'd also worry that the spider might somehow find her way out of the vacuum after it's turned off. If it has a bag, it might be advisable to dispose of that promptly, rolled tight shut and maybe tied up in a plastic garbage bag. With a clear canister I'd probably sit and stare, looking for signs of life, and somewhat afraid to empty it. Yikes!

In any case, it might be a good idea to call an exterminator, on the theory that if there's one there could easily be more. Also, these spiders eat other living things, including some scary ones, such as scorpions. There has to be something around that it was eating. When my DH was in college in Phoenix his was the only dorm room that never seemed to have roaches. When it was time to move out he found a black widow camped out in his closet.

nativetexan

my kitties just look at bugs of any kind going across the floor. their Mama evidently never taught them to hunt anything at all. but they are house cats. yes, i don't trust the vacuum to keep a spider inside of it. I go empty it into the garbage outside.

carolynjo

When we moved to our present house, there were several black widows in the garage. We called an exterminator who sprayed them. He comes on a regular basis to keep us bug free. But, when we lived in the country, a black widow nested in our dog house roof. We never knew until we removed the roof.

quiltingshorttimer

we live in the country and certainly get the spiders and crickets. We just spray with a good pesticide right about now seasonally. I also vacumn them up(did several today) and when I dump the bag I'll either take it out to the bin or if in the kitchen trash bag I'll spray into the opening before putting in kitchen trash so they don't come out.

mamagrande

I had so many spider webs on the front and back porch..yesterday I spent most of the day washing them off. Then I spray insecticide all around the porches. This morning I saw several black widows dead on the front porch. We have rocks on the sides of the porch and they build their nests in between the rocks. I intentionally spray on those rocks and crannies several times a year. The webs of black widows are very strong and they differ from other spiders webs.

Battle Axe

The web of a Brown Recluse spider is also distinctive to the touch. I could trap a Brown Recluse every day in my mixing bowls. I put them down the sink followed by boiling hot water. Yet, I'd get another one the next morning. I don't think I ever ran through all the spiders, so I moved and did not take them with me.

Normally I don't mind a spider, but after seeing a lesion caused by a brown recluse which is flesh eating, I now must have my house spider free.

I majored in entomology in college. Go figure.....

ptquilts

When I was vacuuming wasps I worried about them getting out of the bag. So I would put a plastic bag around the end of the hose with an elastic.

Spoiler alert - none of them ever came back up the hose.