Exterminators are finally at work to rid a home in an upscale Weldon Spring, Missouri, neighbourhood of about 6,000 spiders that have been discovered in 2008.

The brown recluse spiders are venomous creatures that could cause a lot of serious discomfort for humans.

"It's not going to kill you, but it will make you wish you were dead," said Jamal Sandidge, an expert on spiders at the University of Kansas, interviewed by Fox News.

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Exterminator crews have covered the house with a large tent and have pumped in poison gas to exterminate the spiders.

Brian and Susan Trost bought the 2,400 square foot property in 2008 but didn't know there was such a large infestation. When the eight-legged creatures showed themselves, the family contracted a pest-control company but it failed to eliminate the problem. Finally, the Trosts were forced out of house and sued the previous owners and insurance companies saying they were not told of the spider problem.

Eventually, the home was foreclosed.

McCarthy Pest Control is now in charge of exterminating the spider population in the house. Company owner Tim McCarthy says they have to use  sulfuryl fluoride gas, a kind of freezing gas, to kill the insects. Ordinary pesticide may not work because recluse spiders have a special ability to resist poison on the ground. McCarthy says.

The treatment could cost anywhere from US$15,000 to US$30,000.

In 2001, more than 2,000 brown recluse spiders were removed from a heavily infested home in Kansas, yet the four residents who had lived there for years were never harmed by the spiders, despite many encounters with them.

TagsWeldon Spring, Spiders