Another Hazard; Spider Poop

SPIDER POOP!

In the summertime I don’t keep a cover over the truck because if I want to make a quick run here or there I don’t want to have to wrestle off a cover, fold it up, stash it away and then repeat the process after the truck cools down.

Last week I was giving it a dust down – farmers always find ways to raise dust out here in the country – and there were little white speckles on the hood. It wasn’t dust – it wasn’t bug remains, what in the heck was it?

Then I looked up in the rafters over the truck and several spiders had set up housekeeping there. They were the big fat brown and black critters with leg span about the size of a quarter, and from the wrapped up fly carcasses in their webs, it looked like they were eating well.

Now, spider poop is very corrosive; any critter that eats its own poison is dangerous at both ends. The speckles wiped off the clear coat easily, but I know from experience that spider poop can damage paint or unprotected metal long term.

I backed the truck out, hit the spider colony with Yard Guard and watched them spin safety webs as they dropped to the garage floor. They didn’t make it far before they couldn’t figure out just which leg needed to go in front of the next one. Problem solved – but just one more hazard we never think about.

I have seen bird poop do the job on a few paint jobs. White vehicles under a berry tree for instance, is a real bad thing. You don't think about spider poop but it is probably the only corrosion that can appear under your cover in the heated garage! Of course mice excrement is serious as it usually contains what is left of your interior and wiring.

Why are these creatures pooping on our classic Willys?

I had an Uncle who hated critters crawling or pooping on his go to town car and truck. The car shed was not connected to any other building, so a couple of times a year he would park his 4020 John Deere in the shed and set it to high idle and close the door. He'd let it cook in there for the better part of an hour. No spiders, no mice, no bats, and no neighbors cats were to be found inhabiting the shed for quite some time.

I totally like the approach! Talk about a big green "Bug Bomb"!

"Why are these creatures pooping on our classic Willys?"

Like that dog in the street doing other disgusting things; because they can?

To every problem, there is a solution. It just depends on what lengths you are willing to go. Critters pooping on your Willys, a JD belching out a mixture of burnt diesel and oil, or building a poop-a-polt to send back the droppings to their rightful owners master's door step.

Sorry fellas. The fence forum fanatic can't help here. Fences have been proven to have no effect on any of the critters mentioned or photographed. Better leave it up to old john deere or the spray can of whole nasty.