No More Spiders!

Now, I thought 'that's a bold name for a product' so I have given the makers of this stuff the benefit of the doubt and bought a spray bottle off Amazon.

Reading the small print you will see it is a 'non-harmful deterrent...creating a natural barrier to deter spiders without harming them'. It contains stuff like a dollop or two of peppermint, the essence of horse chestnut and a few nuggets of technical guff but it all sounds very environmentally friendly (to humans at least).

Reading the lengthy operating instructions and the Health and Safety data sheets, I see you should spray it at arms length (away from your eyes) around any entrance or exit points like doors, windows, ventilators, etc. and re-apply it every two or three weeks or after cleaning (I know which will come first). Then, Spiderman and his mates will be put off entering due to the acrid aroma that only spiders can smell (presumably this includes essence of blackbird or thrush). We'll see.

Anyway, as it happens, just the sight of the bottle appears to have put them off as there is a noticeable lack of spiders on board Skylark. Of course, this may be because of the change in weather and they have all curled up ready to hibernate in my nooks and crannies. So, not wanting to waste my hard earned cash, I won't be squirting my 'No More Spiders' just yet. I'll report back in the spring.

In the meantime, as its autumn now, I may put on my new-age jumper and loons (yes you can remember them), and go into the countryside to collect a few horse chestnuts. Some people say these may help to keep the little blighters at bay if you dot them around the boat but opinion is split as to their effectiveness. Anyway, I'll see if they help and report back.