The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Living in the tropics, I expected to see spiders, scorpions and snakes. However, when you see them wandering inside your home, it is a very uneasy feeling. We’ve heeded a lot of advice since landing here, in particular regarding pest control. I keep glue traps in stock and place them along the edges of walls in all of our rooms, especially near doorways and by our bed. I’ve scattered moth balls around the perimeter of the terrace where it meets the canyon, as well as outside our doors and windows. I spray lavender essential oil in and around our bedding every night. (Legend has it that scorpions do not like lavender)! And it also smells good.

We had an unexpected guest the other night. Craig is a light sleeper and was awoken to the sound of something moving on the floor. It was about 4 in the morning when Craig shot up out of bed, took out his phone flashlight, and shined it on the floor by his side of the bed. This hand-sized spider was half caught in a glue trap and was moving the trap while trying to get loose.

Being half in a daze and not knowing exactly what to do, we ascertained that he wasn’t going anywhere. He had stopped moving and looked stuck, or was he? We decided to go back to bed and deal with it in daylight. Neither of us could really sleep well after that, but a few hours later, he was still there stuck in the same location. If I had my had on straight I would have got a bowl to cover everything with and pushed it outside onto the terrace and out into the canyon, but that’s not what happened. Craig got out his tape measure to see if he could ascertain its size. Señor Spider did not like this one bit and suddenly became unglued from his frozen position and ran inside the trap, then out the other side. He was making a run for it! I was screaming, Craig was tap dancing. I got out the can of bug spray and squirted it. I didn’t want to chance it being some sort of tropical Panamanian death spider. We saved the evidence in a baggie to find out what kind of spider it was.

After that, we felt it necessary to have an exterminator come in. We were very uneasy about the situation. A friend gave us a referral for an exterminator and we made an appointment. We were assured that this was not a poisonous spider. The variety is called “Tegenaria Domestica”. They eat bugs. A very large female who was just trying to make a living in our bedroom. The exterminator sprayed non toxic solution throughout the inside of our home as well as the outside perimeter. This will become part of a regular routine.

Some important tips we received were not to have a lot of clutter around, and to maintain a clean home, which we do. Also trimming back any bushes and not having junk stacked against the house where these critters like to hide. One thing we need to consider is weather stripping around the doorway as you can see a little daylight peeking through. In Panamanian construction, we have seen very little weather stripping. In the newer North American style homes that are being built in the gated communities they are more prevalent.

Never a dull moment in paradise…