RELATED: If You Live in These States, Watch Out for the World’s Largest Spider. If you’re storing your essentials in cardboard boxes in your basement, you may find yourself with a black widow problem on your hands before you know it. “Undisturbed and unsealed boxes are an attractive place for black widows to hide, especially those that are near to the ground and corners near the foundation,” explains Nancy DeWitt, owner of Patriot Pest & Termite Control. “Corners of the box provide a suitable place for them to construct their webs and lay their eggs.” For the latest home safety news delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter! It’s not just the protection offered by storage boxes that make them so attractive to black widows—those unsealed boxes also frequently become homes for the insects black widows like to eat. “Black widows like to be near an easy food source and to have a somewhat protected environment. Rarely opened boxes in a basement would certainly qualify as a quiet, safe, and protected environment,” says Doug Webb, a board-certified entomologist and manager of technical services at Terminix. “For black widow spiders, like most spiders, their main food source is live insects and undisturbed boxes in a basement may also provide a good hiding place for insects as well,” adds Webb. If you want to keep black widows from taking up residence in your home, try decluttering your space as soon as possible.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb “One thing that can help with keeping black widows out of stored items is to use plastic bins with tight fitting lids rather than cardboard boxes for storage,“says Webb. “While it is still possible for these pests to get in a plastic bin, it is much more work and usually not worth the effort for them.” However, if you’re worried you may already have spiders in your space, take adequate precautions before you start your reorganizing spree. “Make sure to use heavy gloves if there are visible webs and the boxes or items have been stored there for a while,” recommends DeWitt, as black widows bites can cause serious health issues or, in rare cases, death. RELATED: If You’re Not Cleaning These 2 Spots, You’re Attracting Spiders to Your Home.
