Found a cockroach in my house... Advice? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Iowa_Flames_Fan · 08-25-2007, 10:30 PM

OK--I'm the first to admit that I'm a Canadian milquetoast who's accustomed to Calgary-sized bugs and spiders. We moved into this house in Philadelphia about a month ago, and when I found that we had mice, I shrugged and went and bought some traps. We also have giant house centipedes and big spiders--it's an old house.

But tonight I found a cockroach on the stairs leading to the third floor. I about crapped my pants... I know, not very manly to be afraid of a stupid and harmless bug. So I killed it, and then got to thinking. I can deal with mice--I know how to get rid of them, and can't imagine we have more than a half-dozen around anyway. I'll catch them all eventually. But ROACHES? Not to mention the fact that they're disgusting, or that my wife's going to have a fit when I tell her to-morrow--how the heck am I supposed to get rid of them? Has anyone had good luck with a do-it-yourself remedy for this kind of thing? Is it time to call a professional?

NSFL · 08-25-2007, 10:35 PM

Try one of those big gluey stick pad type things. Get a bunch and scatter them around. See what you catch. =D

Iowa_Flames_Fan · 08-25-2007, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NSFL

Try one of those big gluey stick pad type things. Get a bunch and scatter them around. See what you catch. =D

I'm a little worried I'll discover new and exciting pests that way! I'd rather nuke the place with a bug bomb and let them all die slow, horrible deaths inside the woodwork, where I'll never have to know of their existence.

pope04 · 08-25-2007, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

I about crapped my pants... I know, not very manly to be afraid of a stupid and harmless bug.

I have no advice whatsoever, but I can commiserate. When my wife and I went to Mexico for our honeymoon, just as we approached our suite, a 'roach ran over my foot...........I was probably the first man alive that had to be carried over the threshold.

Iowa_Flames_Fan · 08-25-2007, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pope04

I have no advice whatsoever, but I can commiserate. When my wife and I went to Mexico for our honeymoon, just as we approached our suite, a 'roach ran over my foot...........I was probably the first man alive that had to be carried over the threshold.

I love it!

That prompts me to confess that once while I was mowing the lawn in Iowa a snake slithered over my sandaled foot and I shrieked like a little girl. My wife STILL makes fun of me for it, and that was almost nine years ago.

NSFL · 08-25-2007, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

I'm a little worried I'll discover new and exciting pests that way! I'd rather nuke the place with a bug bomb and let them all die slow, horrible deaths inside the woodwork, where I'll never have to know of their existence.

Well I was hoping you'd find new and exciting pests and then come on CP and share!

And you really shouldn't be mowing the lawn in sandals.

Iowa_Flames_Fan · 08-25-2007, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NSFL

And you really shouldn't be mowing the lawn in sandals.

You've apparently never mowed the lawn in 105 degree weather. Closed-toed shoes are for people who like their feet to smell like Roquefort.

And yeah, I'll share whatever I find! I'm trying to look on the bright side--it'll be a new experience!

NSFL · 08-25-2007, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

You've apparently never mowed the lawn in 105 degree weather. Closed-toed shoes are for people who like their feet to smell like Roquefort.

And yeah, I'll share whatever I find! I'm trying to look on the bright side--it'll be a new experience!

Even this says use sticky glue traps.
http://www.health.state.ny.us/enviro...ests/roach.htm
I hope to see pictures!

And yeah, I've been in Canada all my life, so I guess I don't know what that's like. And I am glad.

Dion · 08-25-2007, 10:59 PM

You could smoke the roaches

Seriously i'd call some pest control company and ask them for some advice. Maybe even get them to come by your place and do an inspection.

Dion · 08-25-2007, 11:02 PM

http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Roaches

blankall · 08-25-2007, 11:45 PM

Out East there are roaches everywhere. When I lived in Toronto every old place had them. Some of the ideas in the article sound good, but the number one thing is just to keep things clean. Infestations always require a food source. Find that food source and eliminate it. Usually it stuff like crumbs, open dry foods, the accumulation behind fridges/stoves, or bread boxes.

Circa89 · 08-26-2007, 12:18 AM

You should call a pro. The pesticides that they sell over the counter are not suited to deal with pests like roaches these days. Most roaches have built an immunity to the majority of them anyway and you just wind up making the problem worse. Today in the industry we have gel baits that are targeted for roaches specifically and these work very, very well. I won't say who I work for but maybe you should call the Orkin Man!!!

CrusaderPi · 08-26-2007, 12:44 AM

Nothing cleans like fire.

Its also best not to tell the wife. Ask yourself, is she better off knowing about this new information? IS tell her helping her in any way? The answer is a resounding no. Let her ignorance be your bliss.

JohnnyB · 08-26-2007, 12:56 AM

Living in Taiwan, where roaches are abundant and huge, I found that a liberal scattering of roach traps under all the furniture did quite a good job of keeping the apartment clean of the pests. Also, you may not want to leave bars of soap around, as they like to eat soap.

I think I was in my first week after moving to Taiwan when a two inch roach flew right onto my nose while I was leaving a phone message for my bro back in Canada. I always wish I'd had a chance to hear what that message sounded like...

arsenal · 08-26-2007, 01:22 AM

Catch a few, place them in a radioactive jar that you store in your basement. Then release the giant roaches on to the earth, and assume the position of overload!

At least.. that's what I would do..

sclitheroe · 08-26-2007, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrusaderPi

Nothing cleans like fire.

Its also best not to tell the wife. Ask yourself, is she better off knowing about this new information? IS tell her helping her in any way? The answer is a resounding no. Let her ignorance be your bliss.

Yes, we had a single solitary mouse in our house this summer, and I can attest to the fact that info like that is on a need-to-know basis with the wife. Unless the critter is poisonous, radioactive, or carnivorous, figure out a solution beforehand, so that when she DOES find the critter (and she will), you have a canned response plan ready to put in place.

-Scott

Displaced Flames fan · 08-26-2007, 08:57 AM

Totally off your topic, but why are you in Philadelphia now? Are you at Temple? Villanova?

Lanny_MacDonald · 08-26-2007, 09:02 AM

So Iowa, does this mean you're changing your handle to Philly_Flames_Fan. I hope not, that's a bitch to say when you're loaded.

My advice, call Terminex or Orkin. They'll get you fixed up. After living in Florida I can tell you is successful at getting rid of roaches, and these two companies provided the best service and consistent success.

A couple of roach stories for your enjoyment.

When I first went to Florida it was for a company transfer. They put me up at the Westin Innisbook for my first month down there and I had a suite with a sitting area and kitchen with an eating bar. I'm sitting at the bar working on a report, drinking a cold bevy, when out of the corner of my eye I detect some movement on the floor in the living room. I turn and spy the biggest freakin' bug I have ever seen in life. I immediately knew where Volkswagen got the design for the Beetle, and that the life sized model for the car was in my living room. So I proceed to jump on my chair, crawl across the counter to the phone, and call the front desk, screaming there is a monster in my room looking to eat me. They send a guy "right up", which felt like half an hour. All the time this damn roach sits in the living room eye balling me and waving its antenni around.

Finally this guy arrives to "take care of the situation". He's armed only with a towel, like he's going to wet the end of it and snap it in the ass like it just got out of the shower. So I'm laying across the counter asking him WTF a towel is going to do, and where the hell his rocket launcher is? He casually walks over and heards this behemoth into the towel and tells me he's going to take him outside to release him. When I ask why he didn't kill the fiend (I didn't know bastich was sensored) he said stepping on them does nothing, they can lie almost completely flat and they shell is next to industructible, unless you take a hammer to them at close range. He said the best weapon against these critters is a gecko. A two inch gecko will routinely take on a three inch palmetto bug and win every time (I've seen it, and he is right). Least to say, I didn't sleep well for the next month.

Second story from Florida is a quickee.

The wife and I are in bed late one night and I got an idea I needed to write down. I blindly reach over into the night stand and pull out a pen and paper I keep there for instances like this. I write my idea down and turn to put the paper and pen away. As I do this two inch roach slowly crawls out of the drawer and sits on the edge looking at me. I'm immediately out of the bed, dancing around the bedroom, screaming like a whipped school girl. My wife, who doesn't mind bugs, shooed the bug out of the drawer and chased it out of the bedroom and out the front door of the house. That was it for me. I'd had my last roach. A month later we had sold our house and moved to Arizona. Now I only have to deal with scorpions, which terrify both my wife and I.

BTW... did I mention what a great job Terminex does???

transplant99 · 08-26-2007, 09:18 AM

Quote:

So Iowa, does this mean you're changing your handle to Philly_Flames_Fan. I hope not, that's a bitch to say when you're loaded

That made me laugh....beautiful.

Quote:

He said the best weapon against these critters is a gecko. A two inch gecko will routinely take on a three inch palmetto bug and win every time

The freakin ugliest damn things ever!! Freak me out every time one gets into the condo.

I had one come in a couple years ago that had my cat in a tizzy. Thing was a full 7 inches long that was verified after I and the cat herded it into a spot I could kill it.

They look like some sort of sci-fi freaking post-apocolyptic flying roach type thing.

Lanny_MacDonald · 08-26-2007, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by transplant99

That made me laugh....beautiful.

The freakin ugliest damn things ever!! Freak me out every time one gets into the condo.

I had one come in a couple years ago that had my cat in a tizzy. Thing was a full 7 inches long that was verified after I and the cat herded it into a spot I could kill it.

They look like some sort of sci-fi freaking post-apocolyptic flying roach type thing.

You actually killed a palmetto bug? Weren't the neighbors a little pissed when the air support flew in and missle strike was called in?