Pet Safety 101: Keeping Them Safe From Utah’s Most Dangerous Spiders

With more than 30,000 species of spiders in the world, and 621 species of spiders in Utah. It might seem impossible to keep these eight-legged creatures away from your pets. Because some spiders can hurt your pets with their venom, however, it’s important to take precautions to keep your furry friends safe. Familiarize yourself with basic spider safety and learn what to do if one of Utah’s most dangerous spiders bites your pet.

Basic Pet Safety regarding Spiders

To protect your pets from spiders indoors, be sure to keep your home as clean and clutter-free as possible. Tidy up paper piles and other accumulated junk regularly, and dust and vacuum once a week. Because spiders often thrive in quiet, dark environments, such as basements and crawl spaces, it’s in your best interest to keep pets out of those areas.

Utah’s Most Dangerous Spiders

Like most states, Utah has its fair share of spiders. Many are benign, but some can be venomous to both humans and pets. Watch out for the most dangerous spiders in Utah:

• Black Widows: Like most spiders, black widows prefer dark, out-of-the-way spots that most pets don’t frequent. They bite only when provoked, which means they don’t typically attack. If your pet finds and harasses a black widow, however, a severe bite can lead to redness, pain, cramps, and an increased heart rate. Take your pet to a veterinarian immediately, or your furry friend might suffer vomiting, paralysis, or even death.

• Hobo Spiders: These spiders prefer basements or ground-level homes, and they can be more aggressive than other kinds of spiders, especially when provoked or touched. Not all hobo spider bites are venomous because these spiders sometimes bite defensively without injecting venom. Venomous bites are often painless at the time but lead to redness, pain, swelling, and blistering later. Healing can take six weeks, and severe bites can take two to three years to heal completely.

• Wolf Spiders: These spiders look like a small tarantula, but they can be much more dangerous. You can identify wolf spiders by their dark brown color and their three rows of eyes. Wolf spider bites generally leave behind distinct fang marks and cause pain, swelling, and redness lasting up to 10 days. Infected bites can lead to further complications.

What to Do if Your Pet Gets Bitten

Bites from black widows, hobo spiders, and wolf spiders can have mild symptoms at first, but issues and complications can escalate quickly. Because early detection is so important for spider bites, some veterinarians recommend checking your pet for bites each day. If you do detect a bite, call your vet as soon as possible to determine the next course of action. In the rare case that you witness the spider bite, capture the pest without getting bit yourself. This evidence can be a big help in informing your pet’s course of treatment.

Even when you take all the right pet safety precautions, a persistent spider problem can still put your pet in danger. For professional pest control in Utah, call the experts at Beeline Pest Control at 801-544-9200.