Product review: the barrier method!

Okay this is something I found earlier this year and bought some, been using them for a few weeks so it's time for a review:

S###a-trap

Now I know that looks just plain STOOPID, but because we promise to NOT show the "S" word, it's right there in the name of this product and website (albeit spelt with a "-da" ending not "-der") so I'm going to hash out the body of the word for the more sensitive among us. Full name whited-out between the asterisks below:
* Spida-Trap, from www.spidatrap.com *
One thing you need to know about their website is, there are no big pictures of arachnos greeting you when you click to enter, and it's considerately graded so you know what you'll find before you click on any page (and you can buy the traps without having to see ANY pictures of arachnos) - in fact, the whole thing's been designed with arachnophobics in mind, because the guy who invented these traps is an arachnophobe himself!

It does feature the "S" word prominently and repeatedly however, and I'll put contact info to the site under this review, so you can order without having to see that if it really makes your flesh creep.

But I genuinely can't see how they could have a website and not mention it, no bugger could find it without that search term!!

Concept: glue traps, come in packs of two and 45cm/trap so each pack covers 90cm, designed to trap arachnos and deny them access past a certain point to create a barrier, or you can place them to randomly trap any night-time strollers. One pack of 2 will cover the width of a doorway, so you can protect your bedroom or wherever.

Effectiveness: excellent, I bought four, one of them had caught 3 arachnos of varying sizes within just 48 hours! The record is a 6½ inch Australian Huntsman according to the site, and I can well believe that, they are VERY sticky and the sloping sides give no purchase for the arachno to pull free.

Unlike craneflies, arachnos can't shed legs, so they stay put - also, due to the {ick} speed they travel at, they've usually committed more than one leg before they realise they're stuck.

Price: free post & packing, 2 traps for £4.99, 4 for £7.99, 10 for £16.99, 20 for £26.99 at date of this post.

Pros: great price for such peace of mind, very effective indeed and basically the closest to a "arachno force-field" you're going to get. The arachnos don't seem able to spot and avoid the traps either, I placed one randomly with clear ground on all sides and it still caught a couple of the little sods.

Great customer service as the inventor is a fellow arachnophobe, and so completely "gets it" - I had a question that he answered comprehensively the very next day by e-mail. Really fast delivery as well - they're a UK-based company so mine arrived next day, and they ship worldwide.

Cons: only a few but I'll detail them - first off, you have to deal with the trapped arachno (but, you'd probably have had to deal with it anyway, and with it free to run as it chose), only work on level floors (but you can be inventive, surely?) and not on walls etc (but again, maybe deploy a bit of creativity!), but then again most arachnos do travel along the floor, it's easier for them.

The traps can't be just left open permanently as the glue eventually dries out, you have to re-cover the strip during the daytime to keep it tacky.

(I also kept forgetting where they were at first, and trod on mine a couple of times, but then I am a moron...)

NB: All those are IMO minor drawbacks and completely unavoidable: I'm just mentioning them out of fairness, and so you'll know what you're getting. These are an excellent product and I highly recommend them.

Once they're trapped and you need to kill them, the site recommends covering them with the cover-paper (which is like that waxy stuff you get to back stickers and stamps) and then whacking them with a long stick or something, but I used a torn-up cornflake packet (and a handy hammer) because I couldn't have touched the coverstrip if it had ... erm, JUICES {ick!} on it.

Don't use the Bayer spray I posted about previously for the kill - it has fats in, and the grease will mess up the rest of the glue in the trap, and might even free the one you've caught.

I'm now going to give you the contact details - because they contain the "S" word, I'll give you the phone number first, so if you're really sensitive you can order without seeing any "S" words: 01560 482588

And here's the whited-out web link, postal address and e-mail:

Website:www.spidatrap.com


By Post:
Spidatrap.com Ltd
21 Rigg Street
Stewarton
East Ayrshire
Scotland
KA3 5AG

If you're ordering these spider traps, make cheques out to SpidaTrap.com ltd.

Email: info@spidatrap.com

==

PS: 6th October '09

Robin who invented these traps got in touch to say the traps only dry out after exposure to direct sunlight, and sure enough I just poked a finger onto a !CLEAN! bit of a trap, and yeah, still plenty sticky. He's also left a comment on this post with some backstory, which is really neat!

For the win: for the KILL! Product review

Okay, I'm cutting to the chase here with the fastest KILL I've found for arachnos here in the UK. Because at this time of year, that's what you need!

S-words whited out below, just in case they help anyone find this post:

fastest spider killer, that quickly kills spiders within seconds, independent review of fastest spider killer, possibly the most humane spider killl, so if you have spider here's how to make them a fucking guestlist pass to spider heaven.

Okay: fastest knock-down and humane kill for arachnos, has to be, Bayer Garden "Organic Pest Control" pump-action spray.

I have NOTHING to do with this company, and find their links to vivisection absolutely appalling by the way.

But I'm just talking about what works here for arachnophobes, and if you're one, you'll appreciate maybe that principles can best be debated when you're not terrified. If you care, PLEASE go send some money to the legal and non-violent British Union Against Vivisection, or any other organisations who support ending cruelty to animals.

We're here to get rid of arachnos, and I make no apologies for buying this one product by them.

This puppy (Bayer website link with no nasty pics) is described as - "Organic, ready to use contact insect control." The page FAQ on Bayer's site for this product then rather bizarrely goes on about something called Cat-A-Pult, a cat repellent, I put that down to the web designer accidentally breathing in their products lol... anyway you can buy it in most garden centres.

Basically, £5 or so buys you a chunky 1 litre blue pump action spray of fatty acids in solution, which if you know your enemy you'll know she breathes through things called "book lungs" modifed into tubular tracheae in most species (yeah, I don't get it either) and they branch out, and open through her entire body into her outsides.

My theory (as a moron) is this stuff has fats in solution, so it's like, I could be drowned in water and come up gasping for air, but drown me in olive oil (liquid fats) and I'm fucked - to use a technical term...

Whatever, this stuff knocks 'em down fast - I had a runner the size (legs included) of my palm earlier, ran into the bathroom, I caught her 12 - 18 good squirts with this stuff, and found her stalled and dead as a doornail by my sink.

Downside? yes, there is one from the user point of view. It's fats in solution, so don't spray it on granny's antique silk wedding gown, and it'll fuck up your wallpaper, and stain most emulsion paint. Bayer will sort you out with other instructions and cautions, although it is an organic approved product - like most insecticides, it's particularly dangerous to fish, so bear that in mind right now.

And it won't repel arachnos as a barrier - I suspect those bastards (who taste through their FEET - what kind of "fuck you" is that to the world?!) will happily run past a barrier of this stuff - nonetheless I found it to be a reliably good contact killer for even the biggest UK arachnos, and having had to score one eight-legged soul tonight, posting it up for my fellow travellers.

Oh, and its precursor was called "Baby Bio Organic Houseplant Insecticide" and I used that reliably for years too and for me, I'd rather clean up the stains than deal with having a live one in my home.

So posting this up first as using this stuff wasn't even on the menu when I was a kid and jumping at every shadow, we relied on permethrin (pyrethrum, etc, all the same basic principle) sprays, which attack the nervous system (ouch!) and basically make your arachno act like it's whiffed up some PCP before it dies, and is NOT humane, imo - though I would use it given no other choices.

Anyway - Bayer Organic Pest Control for the win, and God bless sister arachno, may she reincarnate FARRR from my front door.