I live near the Great Lakes, so I have a lot of spiders. Since it's a rural area, there are a lot of mice, also. I had my house inspected for entryways for rodents, found 2 and sealed them off. Also recently had a new roof put on. The OSB was pulled for inspection and there was no sign of critters, so that was nice. Since the house sealing, I have killed about 3 mice, and the traps have remained empty for the last few months, so maybe this was the last "family." Since this is the time they are generally most prolific, I can only contend that the sealing was a big plus. We have snakes all over the back yard, especially under the deck, and they are welcome here, as they keep the bugs and rodents down as well. We have only one pit viper to be afraid of, and they are quite small in number, and rather shy, so I generally don't worry about those. There are also at least 2 cats from the neighbors, mousers, that are also quite welcome here. I haven't had to resort to oils or whatnot, yet, but intend to try it out in the garage, where I haven't had trouble, but don't want it to start, either. I spray my house twice a year with Ortho Max Home Defense, against the spider problem, as we have a problem with Brown Recluse spiders, which have some of the most potent venom in the country, and which my wife has already been a victim. I have personally killed two of them on the deck, and started spraying it along with the house. There is also Northern Black Widow here, but I have never seen one. Good, because the BR is cause enough for concern. We also have Coal Skinks, and they likely help to keep a lot of the bugs down. Lastly, we have frogs up the wazoo. Tree Frogs, Chorus Frogs, Bull Frogs, you name it. The Tree Frogs used to dot out house so much that we could see them on the off-white siding at night when we pulled into the driveway 200 feet away. I can't even imagine the bug problem we would have without them.