A Nashville man has resorted to sleeping in a tent inside his apartment to protect himself from Brown Recluse spiders.
When most people come home from work, they relax but not Matt Kallmeyer.
"You feel like they're crawling all times of the day once they infest your place," he said.
The thought of Brown Recluse spiders biting him had him on edge. "Last night I tried to stay awake all night," said Kallmeyer. "I went and did some laundry, drank a bunch of coffee but at about 2:30 I couldn't stay awake anymore."
So he decided to go camping, indoors. "I remember I had my tent in the trunk of my car, so I went out and slept in my tent with the hopes that no spiders would creep in there," said Kallmeyer.
However, William Hadden with Ace Exterminating Company said a tent won't help.
"The same thing that allows him to breathe air out and in allows insects to get out and in," said Hadden. "It's usually zippers they can crawl in through."
Kallmeyer's apartment complex has been sprayed regularly. "What we spray for other spiders doesn't work for brown recluse," Hadden said. "We have to use a dusting type mechanism."
That's why Kallmeyer said he's seeing them all the time, though Hadden said they're typically found in attics, crawl spaces and undisturbed areas.
"If you see Brown Recluse out in the surface area trying to find prey what that means is one of two things, either they don't have anything to hunt where they are or there's a lot of competition where they are so they're coming out to explore new territory," said Hadden.
So while Kallmeyer's new place of rest may not offer true protection, it was where he said he'd be again that night.
"With this layer and this zipped up i felt pretty safe that no spiders would get in there and be getting on me," he said.
An exterminator was sent out to Kallmeyer's apartment again. This time to check for Brown Recluse spiders. We're told before they give any conclusive results, they have to do some further testing.
Experts said about 75% of all Tennessee homes have Brown Recluse Spiders, so here's some tips to keep them at bay:
- seal cracks
- eliminate clutter in the home,
- don't use bedspreads that touch the floor,
- keep closet doors open to let in light,
- keep mulch several inches from the foundation of your home,
- trim your branches and shrubs
