Recently I spotted a large reclusive spider had taken up residence under the seat of my kayak. First thought – flood the cockpit with water and drown the sucker. No luck. Long story short, I managed to catch it sitting out in the open and squashed it. Question – what if it laid eggs under there. Any recommendations for killing hundreds of little critters before they emerge? Thanks.
Premethrin
Get it at Walmart…is’t for clothes so it won’t harm you or the boat…spray it in the cockpit and cover the cockpit. Spray life through multiple washing is approx 6 months.
wow…
that really sucks. I think I would flood the cockpit with some water and then pour some bleach in. that way you would be sure to saturate any eggs. Bleach is pretty effective in killing stuff.
Don’t think this would bother your gel coat.
two words
"pool session"
Don’t even worry about it
– Last Updated: Apr-17-07 9:47 AM EST –
Newly hatched spiders can't hurt you. In an environment like your boat, starvation and dehydration will probably kill 90 percent of them, and they may also eat each other, and the few that are left will not survive either unless they go find a richer habitat that is more suitable to the nearly microscopic critters they will rely on for food. If by some miracle you ever see any, just squish them too.
Any recommendations …
for killing hundreds of little critters before they emerge?
Not a chance. They’re most likely going to emerge when the spray skirt is in place and the kayak is warm. First thing they’ll go for? You ears and hair!
See a therapist?
They can cure spider phobias. Spiders are good creatures to have around.
Once cleaned and removed
In the future after cleaning and removing the cockpit critters, get a section of vinyl window screen and bungee it around the cockpit rim during non use / storage.
Shame on you
For ever letting your kayak sit long enough in one place for this to happen . . . .
Paddle more, bug-hunt less!
can I have the eggs?
I want to put them in my kayak so they can hatch and take care of the ant problem.
No self respecting spider would
come in my kayak.
Between the stink from my NRS kickers and the low tide smell, it would perish immediately.
Cheers,
JackL
heebie jeebies
Bought my first kayak last fall. It’s been hanging in my garage all winter with an old mattress pad over it. May I say that this is the most disturbing thread I have read on this forum so far!
Now I am going to get the heebie jeebies as soon as I am away from shore.
Brown recluse spiders are not good
to have around.
But you haven’t seen a boat spider until you see Waterbuffy’s.
Not Fond of Spiders or Snakes
I keep my cockpit cover on when I am not using the boat. And it gets washed out to get sand out every other week or so. So far so good.
I looked and could not find my picture but last year I took a picture of four writing spiders who made webs between the boat on its cradle and the ground. Writting spiders are cool, pretty, harmless, but can get large. These four were about four inches across the span of their legs.
Happy Paddling,
Mark
Dealing with eggs
Very , very difficult to eliminate the viability of eggs. Eggs are durable (designed to survive the elements) and developing spiders have no respiration. Contact insecticides (fogs) are good for adult spiders, but pretty much worthless for eggs. Residual insecticides do not work well on spiders due to the design of their feet (pick up little toxicant from the surfaces). Again, pretty worthless for eggs.
Washing the egg s from under the seat pan is undoubtedly difficult, but may be the best plan. And while nobody wants a couple hundred spiderlings scurrying about inside of the boat’s cockpit, at least they are too small in size for their fangs to penetrate skin.
Jim
Licensed Pesticide Applicator
yeah
I get those Mexican barking spiders under my seat all the time… They are pretty harmless though… L
"Itsy Bitsy Spider"
Hey, sue me, I’ve a 4 year old in my household:
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Animation created by the Egor Animator from Sausage Software. Please use a Java-compatible web browser to view this animation.
The itsy bitsy spider
Crawled up the water spout
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out
Out came the sun
And dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider
Crawled up the spout again.
on my to do list
Get a piece of nylon window screen + shock cord to fabricate a cover so the cockpit can dry out, spider-free, before putting on the cockpit cover. Also, remove the seat to check for and get rid of any egg casings. I contacted the manufacturer who said it is easy enough – just drill out a couple pop rivets.
Thanks for your postings.
Hand Grenades or C4
No worries after that.
Andy (who does not kill spiders, even in the house, although I might let them loose outside)