Good News for Those Scared of Australian Spiders and Creepy Crawlies.

We had our third annual pest control service on Monday. I have mentioned these before, but it’s only now that I feel I can accurately assess what I think of the service we have had so far.

First, let’s recap:

When we moved in to our Australian home back in November 2007, the occupants were still there to greet us. We thought we had bought the house with vacant possession but nobody had run that past the spiders, cockroaches or geckos.

I’m surprised there wasn’t a banner in the main reception room of the house saying “Welcome to Australia, your war against creepy crawlies starts now!”

When battle commenced, I enlisted the services of a national pest control company and about two weeks after we moved in, a guy came round and gave our house and the outside a good spraying with Bifenthrin, Deltamethrin and Permethrin.

For those of you who aren’t chemists, that’s bug killer. These sort of bugs…

Pest Chart

Pest Chart

In fairness to myself, until this guy arrived, I was holding my own against the bugs. I had been called into battle many times and each and every time I won and the bug lost. I used Raid, rolled up newspaper and, of course, the soles of my shoes if I was wearing them. On one occasion I even “bottled” a spider just because a bottle was in my hand at the time.

The first treatment.

When the pest control man turned up, he was like the Arnold Schwarzenegger (although his real name is Paul) of the bug world! Man, this guy was tooled up! Annihilation is his middle name.

An hour later, with the chemical warfare over and me $299 lighter, Arnie was gone and with him the creepy crawlies, or so we had hoped. But probably no more than three hours later, Brisbane was subject to the most violent rainstorm they’d had in 10 years………..

Had all of our chemicals been washed away?

A few weeks later I realised I was still being called into battle on a daily basis. The company we used have a motto that says “If they come back – so do we!” And so they did. Free of charge, Arnie sprayed the whole house again.

This time it worked. No more creepy crawlies, well not very many.

The second treatment.

Sometime in November 2008 we noticed I was being called into action again after many months on leave. By now I had developed, or rather redeployed, my combat methods from back in England.

  • Capture intruder in a glass tumbler
  • Slide postcard underneath
  • Invert
  • Eject contents from the premises

At this point we realised we were due another visit from Arnie. Arnie knew this too and wrote us a letter to advise us we were due for our annual spray job and offering us a $50 discount. Did we want him to come back for just $249?

Yes please!

Our third treatment.

When the letter turned up a couple weeks ago to remind us we were due for another treatment, both Mrs BobinOz and I were surprised. Is it that time already? You see, over the past year we’d hardly seen any creepy crawlies at all!

And the pest control company’s reminder letter had already arrived when I threw out this chap…..

Whitey……..

A White Tail Spider?

A White Tail Spider?

This might be a White Tail Spider, it’s not much fun getting bitten by one, but it won’t kill you. I knew this spider was different when I tried to throw him out of the glass tumbler and instead of flying through the air, he stuck to the glass like glue. Then he walked around and out of the glass towards my hand.

I slowly and calmly (although externally it may have appeared to look similar to fast and panicky) put the glass on the floor. I’d rather not go into details on what happened next, let’s just say the spider would have been better off flying through the air.

Conclusion

It is actually possible we may have seen fewer bugs in the last year than we would have seen living in England. My best guess is I may have ejected 10 spiders in the last year? Other than that, perhaps 5 cockroaches. I was probably seeing ten spiders a month in the first few months here, so it’s a vast improvement on that.

So, the good news for those scared of Australian spiders and creepy crawlies is spraying works! Thanks Arnie.

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{ 18 comments… add one }
  • Sarrah Dominic August 6, 2017, 10:30 pm |

    Pest control services may be a bit costly but annual spraying or pest control is a necessity especially when you’re living in Australia. Better save up for this (at least it’s only once a year) than share living space with these annoying creepy crawlies.

  • Rach July 7, 2017, 11:49 pm |

    What is the name of Arnie’s company? I need him to come here! I moved to Brisbane 2 weeks ago and am using more hairspray on 8 legged monsters than on my Barnet and my adrenaline levels are quickly depleting! My house was apparently sprayed 3 months ago

    • BobinOz July 10, 2017, 6:11 pm |

      Well, I’m pretty sure Paul, that’s his real name, only covers the western suburbs of Brisbane, is that where you live? If it is, let me know and I will send you his phone number by private email.

      The stuff he uses is better than hairspray 🙂

      • Naomi October 23, 2017, 2:20 am |

        Hi Bob, great website. Do you mind sending me an email with the contact details of Paul’s pest control company, please? I live in the western suburb too. I’ve just moved to Brisbane from the UK and holy moley I’m finding spiders on my bed (?!!). Thanks a lot!

        • BobinOz October 24, 2017, 1:52 pm |

          And is there something you do not like about finding spiders on your bed 🙂

          Anyway, I’ve now sent you an email with the details. Cheers, Bob

  • Pest and Weed Control Melbourne January 30, 2017, 2:00 pm |

    Every living creature are unique and has its own beauty similarly why to say cockroach looks disgusting?? its all about our own views..

    • BobinOz January 30, 2017, 6:51 pm |

      That’s a bit of a strange statement coming from someone looking to promote the needless and unprovoked mass murder of all household insects, including cockroaches, with the use of deadly chemicals 🙂

  • Kimberly December 20, 2013, 3:21 pm |

    Arrived in Oz on Sunday to validate my spousal visa and spend Chrissy Downunder. After eight years of marriage to an Aussie and seven trips to Oz, you would think I could handle a cockroach. But to me these are the WORST creatures on earth. Last night I cried genuine tears after one roach, the size of my 3-year old, fell from the ceiling and landed on my head. Enough already with these disgusting bugs! I came straight to the Bob in Oz site for what to do next. We will be calling “Arnie” so that I can be a “new australian” without fear, and my husband will no more be woken from his slumber by my blood curdling screams. Thanks!

    • BobinOz December 20, 2013, 9:48 pm |

      Sounds like an awful encounter Kimberly, but you were lucky. That was just a baby cockroach, they are normally the size of a fully grown adult here 🙂

      You need either a cricket bat to deal with the problem or, more traditionally, get that pest control sorted and although it won’t stop some cockroaches getting in, they won’t survive long. Eventually you will see fewer and fewer until you see almost none at all.

      No more screaming in the middle of the night.

      The only good cockroach IS a dead cockroach, they are the most disgusting looking insect on the planet.

      Welcome to Australia 🙂

    • Amelia Martin January 16, 2016, 10:45 pm |

      Wonderful Post, We appreciates your Pest Control Sydney services. Thanks For Great Share!!

  • Gayathri November 25, 2013, 4:34 am |

    Hi, We recently moved to Sydney from Boston, USA. I am a
    Scared of Roaches, please send me the contact info for “Arnie”. Thank you

    • BobinOz November 25, 2013, 1:51 pm |

      Here in Australia, “Arnie” is better known as pest control 🙂

      • Jack July 25, 2016, 12:09 pm |

        interesting to know about “Arnie”. Its fascinating how so many different culture have different ways of saying things.. Aussies have quite unique ways too but in pest control it is just pest control or pest inspections.. Good one ya Bob. good to have stumbled across this one..

        • BobinOz July 26, 2016, 12:35 am |

          Yes, anybody googling “Arnie” and hoping to get a pest control company in the results would be sadly disappointed, even here in Australia.

          Arnie was just the name I gave my pest control guy because he was so tooled up, but as I explained to Gayathri above, “Arnie” is better known as pest control. I was trying to have a laugh, but I think I may have confused some people; so let’s clear that up.

          If you want pest control in Australia, Google “pest control”. Then get the guy to come round. If he’s anything like my pest control guy, he will remind you of Arnie 🙂

  • Aussie August 6, 2013, 5:18 pm |

    That doesn’t look like a white-tail from the picture. Legs are in the wrong angles, and the abdomen is the wrong shape and the body too wide. It looks like a (possibly young) huntsman to me.

    • BobinOz August 7, 2013, 12:57 pm |

      It probably isn’t, that was a bit of a wild guess on my behalf, based on comparing it to my pictures in my “Wildlife of Brisbane” book. I wouldn’t know a white tail spider if one punched me in the face. A young Huntsman is certainly a possibility.

  • Aviram December 11, 2009, 8:34 pm |

    “At this point we realised we were due another visit from Arnie. Arnie knew this too and wrote us a letter ”

    ROFL…Arnie..

    I think Paul must offer you a free treatment for calling him Arnie! Should I write to Paul that he getting famous in India?!

    • BobinOz December 14, 2009, 6:16 pm |

      Well I’m not asking him, the man’s an assassin!

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