cockroaches - loathsome, loathsome creatures

[luckymom]

I don't care what purpose they serve - they are AWFUL and CREEPY and DISGUSTING and completely unaware that they can by crushed. For goodness sakes, other bugs run away, they run toward you like mad bulls charging. I stand there, panicked, firing away with my spray as if my life depended on it. Screaming in front of the children. (They are laughing - at me.)

 

The rains have brought them out in full force. My boy says they remind him of Sherman's March to the Sea. At least the hsing history lessons are sticking!

 

UGH.

Edited June 5, 2009 by luckymom
spelling error

[sassenach]

I don't care what purpose they serve - they are AWFUL and CREEPY and DISGUSTING and completely unaware that they can by crushed. For goodness sakes, other bugs run away, they run toward you like mad bulls charging. I stand there, panicked, firing away with my spray as if my life depended on it. Screaming in front of the children. (They are laughing - at me.)

 

The rains have brought them out in full force. My boy says they remind him of Sherma's March to the Sea. At least the hsing history lessons are sticking!

 

UGH.

 

My dh had some epic battles with them when we lived in the south. He would recount them to me as if he was facing down a bull in Spain. I am happy to report that California is Palmetto Bug free!

[Remudamom]

You need a pet chicken.

[OneRoomSchoolHouse]

I also HATE cockroaches and am scared to death of them, especially the flying ones. Now that we live in the Texas Hill Country I would 100% prefer them to the scorpions that we have lurking around every corner. We have been here for 2 years and I have been stung twice...I actually told dh that I was going to die it hurt so bad. I have also found the scorpions in the kids beds at night :blink:. Sooooo, maybe you can tolerate your roaches a little better now!

[Marylou]

You need a pet chicken.

 

 

Oh, the worst was when we lived in Southern Mexico and we would see the chickens running around eating roaches. THEY are so good at catching them!

 

Guess what was in our bowls right after the 2 hour church services?

 

Caldo de Pollo!

 

[Take a breath, eat fast and don't think!]

Edited June 5, 2009 by dmmosher

[MomLovesClassics]

Take some bay leaves and put drops of pure eucalyptus essential oil on them. Put them everywhere, windowseals, inside cabinets, counter top. It will keep them away, but you must replace them sometimes. Maybe grow your own bay tree.

[stripe]

I share your pain. They give me the creeps. (But I'm proud to say that I controlled myself from screaming the last time I saw one.)

[ElizabethB]

I share your pain. They give me the creeps. (But I'm proud to say that I controlled myself from screaming the last time I saw one.)

 

The last time I saw one, I did control myself.

 

The time before that, I screamed so loud my husband complained, "You should really save a scream like that for something like an intruder in the house or something dire happening to the children."

[SonshineLearner]

We had them in apartments in Oklahoma. I use to go into the bathroom every night....after dark...and kill 10-15 baby ones. Just squish squish squish...... We kept all of our plates and stuff in an extra fridge....(which we kept near the kitchen...and kept it running. My mom finally got everyone in the entire complex to have their apt. sprayed....(like mmm... 16 families...on the same day...) They sprayed outside, then all the insides....

 

You probably know the drill, don't carry anything from the grocery store into your house. No brown bags of anything.... hopefully no cardboard anything..... And, yup...try all the natural you can stand.....(We sprinkled the Dio...whatever crushed shell stuff....I think you can use the stuff that's safe for humans/animals) And, we had bay leafs all over the place!

 

Carrie

[i.love.lucy]

Why...oh, why...did I open this thread?

 

Roaches are my terror. It's one of those unexplainable, no-logic kind of phobias. We used to have HUGE ones in this little house we rented and when I complained to the landlord he said "Aw! C'mon! They're just water bugs!" We broke our lease and moved out.

 

Seriously, remember the mask or helmet or whatever it was in Orwell's 1984 that had the rats? For me the terror would be filled with roaches.

 

And now the image of the chickens in Mexico. Oh. no. :ack2::leaving:

 

We have them sometimes in this house and they are not in the house as much as the trees and foliage. Horrible.

[Wyndie]

HA! I was just thinking of posting a similar thread. I killed one of the stupid things on just today! Nasty nasty things... they bring out the scared little girl in me - which my husband finds terribly amusing.

[AndyJoy]

I can handle pretty much any bug without batting an eye, but cockroaches freak me out!

 

I am NEVER leaving my recycling outside again. Yesterday I picked up a soda can that had fallen out of the bag. It felt like there was dirt or something inside, so I shook it. Instead, 6 cockroaches came out and there were more inside! That can went into the trash instead of the recycling. I was not going to shake out the others!

[Rosie_0801]

I used to be able to face them, but we had an infestation just after we moved into a new house. I was doing the washing, and one jumped out of my washing basket. I sat down to read my book, and one jumped out of there! Some things are sacred and I've never been the same since.

 

Rosie- Seriously Wussy

[rafiki]

.

[Liz CA]

I have a question not being (thankfully) very familiar with these bugs.

You mentioned cardboard. I recently opened a cardboard with reams of paper at work and three or four of them just scattered everywhere. I managed to crush one with my foot the others went who knows where.

I always thought they go for food - but paper or cardboard???

[Heather in Neverland]

I spent a summer in Mexico years ago and learned the hard way that they can fly. :glare:

 

I feel for ya sister.

[Elizabeth Conley]

Dear Liz,

 

Yep, cardboard, books, and paper bags are also edible to roaches. I suggest you switch to plastic tubs if you can afford to.

 

The type of roach that started the thread were almost surely palmetto bugs. They live outside, usually near pine treas and heavy mulch. A rapid change in barometric pressure sends them scuttling every which way, and they'll wander into a house if there's a crack to crawl through. Palmetto bugs are big, dark brown roaches, and they do tend to make the stout of heart leap onto chairs and squeal like little girls. The god news is that Palmetto bugs don't like to live in your typical house.

 

You probably encounted a german roach. They are most likely to come home in cardboard boxes and grocery sacks. They are also one of the most likely to live and breed in your house. I suggest you kill them at every opportunity, and set out traps.

[Rhonda in TX]

I remember once when I was a kid we had enough rain that it covered about half of our front yard. I looked out the window and saw the the tree trunks were covered with roaches trying to get away from the water! I still shiver when I think about it.

 

I was up late one night when one flew (yes, they can fly!) out of the vent and landed on me. I just about freaked out!!

 

I can handle any bug except roaches. Nasty things. Really, really nasty.

[macdaddi]

Get a cat...they take care of roaches *and* scorpions!

 

I lived in Germany as a kid and we never saw a roach. Then, we moved back to the states and I've been freaked out by them ever since. BTW, Germans hate it when we call them "German roaches" because they swear that we brought them over there! :)

[ChristusG]

Oh yes...the lovely palmetto bug. Those are plentiful down here in Florida. And they give me the heebie jeebies. Seriously, I get all tingly feeling all over when I see one. I hate those things!

[elise1mds]

Ohhhhhhhhhh I DESPISE roaches. If I could make that font 10x bigger, I would. DESPISE. My in-laws have them constantly. My MIL, who, by the way, I really love and adore despite all her faults because she's got a huge heart, donates them to our home every time she brings my kids gifts for their birthdays or Christmas. It's awful. I feel so completely nasty when I see even a baby one crawling around my kitchen.

 

On the other hand, I'm an expert at getting rid of them. It's a 1.5-week fix and I have never had to use an exterminator.

 

Roaches - BLECH!!!!!

[luckymom]

You gotta share the 1.5 week fix!!!!! :bigear:

[Ravin]

One thing I do not miss about living in Florida or Texas! Here in the desert they're much less of a problem. THat said, my compost heap got infested with them (other bugs are supposed to be in compost, not roaches. I dont' care if it IS a big heap of garbag). So while it was cold and most of them were...wherever roaches go when it's cold, I bagged it up and sent it off to the landfill. Yech.

 

I saw ONE roach in our house. I assume it was just one, though it was spotted on three separate occasions. On the third occasion, I was ready with the aerosol RAID, and it hasn't been seen since. Just in case, though, I also pulled out the couch that backs against the kitchen breakfast bar and cleaned in/behind it really well. Oh, that's where my....went! For DD it was like a treasure hunt. Fortunately while retrieving lost items she didn't meet any more roaches.

 

I sprayed around the outside of the house with my outside bug poison, and put out a dozen 12 mo. roach traps. I may still have to spray the kitchen baseboards with raid, though, because my annual summer battle with the teeny ants has resumed, and I can't find their access points, they've learned their way around all the obvious ones I've blocked with cinnamon and cayenne powder.

 

Roaches ARE way easier to control around here. But they may NOT come in and use my air conditioning!

[Peek a Boo]

roaches are theonly thing that make me scream like a girl.

 

scorpions are cool.

centipedes are OK cuz they EAT roaches.

i can handle mice and rats.

spiders are protected around here.

snakes are kept as pets and handled w/ respect.

 

but those roaches?

I have a 50 cent bounty on roaches at my house.

I canNOT stomp them: the crunch gives me serious heebie jeebies!!

i can't even walk into a room if I can SEE the dang roach --gotta send in the troops or leave the house.

 

That was the biggest negative about buying a house w/ a creek in the back yard-- i knew the roaches would be AWFUL. Thankfully they haven't been THAT bad. But then again, i put those combat gold large roach traps EV.RY.WHERE.....

[elise1mds]

You gotta share the 1.5 week fix!!!!! :bigear:

 

OK, it's not easy but it works!!! I do have to add the caveat that it only works on small infestations. I don't guarantee it for big roach problems like some of you have had the misfortune of experiencing. I feel awful reading some of your horror stories. :(

 

But I digress.

 

Step 1: Find ANY water leaks ANYWHERE in your kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room and plug them. Even potential leaks, spaces around pipes, etc. are fair game. Caulk them, use steel wool, it doesn't really matter as long as they are fully plugged. Roaches cannot live without water. They can eat just about anything but they have to have a water source to survive as a colony. Remove that, and they have to come out into the open to get water (where the water collects in the bottom of your sink, into the dishwasher, etc.). It's gross then because you can SEE them, but they're on the run.

 

Step 2: Borax. Sprinkle it behind things or under things that you're not often into so that the borax is not disturbed. Do this in the areas that you suspect they're traveling or hiding. If you have a crawlspace, talk your ever-lovin', ever-sufferin' DH into heading under the house to sprinkle more. Borax is one of those things that will consistently kill roaches. They get it on their feet and take it back to the colony and ingest it when they clean themselves and die.

 

Step 3: Clean like you've never cleaned before. Any open food containers (chip bags, cracker boxes, cereal boxes, and anything in the pantry) must be sealed in plastic bags or Tupperware. Scrub with diluted bleach where you can. Add borax in the corners if possible. Make sure you get the places you may not usually clean - the sides of the dishwasher doors, the magnetic strips along the refrigerator doors, the underside of the toekick along the cabinets, EVERYwhere. This is the hardest part IMHO.

 

Step 4: Wait a couple of days, randomly coming into the 'problem' rooms when it's dark and flipping on the lights. You'll see them running to hide. Those are your next target areas. I usually find them next to my kitchen sink during this time period or, if they're out of the kitchen, I might see a few in the bathroom. This is the part I consider the grossest and where I usually flip out and think I'll never get rid of the buggers.

 

Step 5: Set out a mixture of borax and sugar in the areas you've been seeing them. Alternatively, see if you can figure out the path they're using to get to where you're seeing them and use a spray along that path. Sprays will generally just repel, not kill, them, despite what the cans say, but if you've deprived them of a way to get there, they might just not come back. They pretty much will not run across an open space unless it's the only way to save their life, if that's helpful.

 

Step 6: Keep watching. Over the next week or so, you'll probably see fewer and fewer of them (though they might get bigger as the remaining juveniles head toward maturity). They might try to head to a new area - like I said, sometimes they try to head to my bathroom from the kitchen - but it does mean that you've gotten them out of one room and repeating the process will get rid of them altogether.

 

It's a 1.5-week method for me now because I've done it so often :001_huh:. The first time, it took me about 3 weeks because I was figuring it all out. Now I just keep the food in containers anyway and I know all the water sources are already blocked.

 

HTH! And more importantly, I hope you never ever EVER have to do this!