Brown recluse spider control is essential for Georgia residents, but there are reasons why it’s a job best left to the pros. First, the spider is often—as in, 80 percent of the time—confused with other species. Second, they are much smaller than people believe. This means the brown spider you’re planning your control plan around is likely nothing to worry about, while the real risks go ignored in your home.

Georgia, though not part of the region most heavily impacted by brown recluses, does have confirmed infestations every year. Finally, the bite of these spiders is potentially life-threatening; so, they’re really not something to leave up to chance.

Here are more specifics you can use to identify and control the brown recluse spiders in your home:

They’re about the size of a quarter.

This is probably the big reason the brown recluse is misidentified so often. People are expecting a large spider, something that looks formidable, and these guys really don’t look that threatening. In fact, unless you’re able—and willing—to get up close to look for identifying marks, this is the type of spider that people often sweep into a dustpan to dump outdoors or squish with a shoe.

The brown recluse is nocturnal.

It doesn’t like the light, and it doesn’t like the outdoors. As the name suggests, this spider isn’t a “people person” and stays away from active places. The brown recluse only bites when it has no other choice, as a means to get away from danger. Unfortunately, this leaves you at risk when you’re most vulnerable.

The majority of bites occur while people are sleeping—it’s dark, there isn’t a lot of movement and the spiders just don’t know they’re walking across a bed someone can roll across at any time.

Their bites are dry.

Health professionals have gotten into the habit of blaming the recluse for any necrotic bite they come across, but if you have an oozing bite or infection, you’re not dealing with a spider—at least not this one. A recluse bite dries out from the center, sinking in and damaging blood vessels in the process, slowly spreading out from twin prick marks, while killing the tissue surrounding them. Left untreated, the damage can progress quickly and lead to the loss of limbs, organs and even your life.

The brown recluse only has six eyes.

While there is the faint shape of a violin on the back of this spider, humans have a way of matrixing, or seeing patterns where patterns do not exist, and this eccentricity has aided misidentification in a big way. In other words, if you see a quarter-sized brown spider with a violin on its back, you really can’t trust your eyes.

To tell if a spider is truly a brown recluse, one must be up close and personal. Sometimes, the only person willing to do that is a professional. It’s an important step though because of the way these spiders can nest.

One Kansas home was infested with more than 2,000 brown recluse spiders! If you can get close enough to check without risking a bite, you’ll see that a brown recluse has six eyes versus eight. The six eyes are in three groups of two.

Contact North Fulton Pest Solutions for help with brown recluse spider control. Help prevent a potentially fatal bite by calling us at the first sign of a spider infestation. Call 770-475-7419 for a free quote to get on top of brown recluse spider control.