Most bugs gross me out, despite growing up in the country. Cockroaches, by far, have been the worst.
I think my problem with roaches comes from not having much experience with them. I never saw any at my parents’ house; although we had issues with ants and scorpions.
My first encounter with a roach happened in the girls’ bathroom during high school when I was changing for tennis practice. I walked out of the stall, dressed and ready to go, when a whopping 3-inch American cockroach flew by me and landed on the door that led outside.
I nervously watched it — I’m almost positive it smirked menacingly — until someone opened the door and I made a mad dash outside, shouting a warning to the unsuspecting person as I fled.
Until now, the places I’ve lived during college never had any roach problems. The property managers sprayed for bugs regularly. Unfortunately, the place where I live currently takes a hands-off approach.
According to our lease, pest control is a tenant responsibility. That didn’t seem like a problem when my boyfriend and I signed the contract. The price of rent was perfect, our large-breed puppy was welcome and the house looked nice.
It’s too bad we didn’t know about the mice and roach problems.
The mice haven’t been too much of an issue. We have got the field mice variety, and I felt more sad than grossed out about killing them. The cockroaches, however, are a different matter.
I found the first one dying in the kitchen about a month ago. This week I found two more dying in our reading room. According to a few searches I performed online, we have got oriental roaches.
This kind often lives in sewage areas, according to an article on the Penn State University Web site. Oriental cockroaches eat filth. Disease producing organisms such as bacteria, protozoa and viruses have been found inside of them.
Grossed out yet? I certainly am.
It took me about six or seven minutes to dispose of the first cockroach I found this week, knowing how nasty it was. My first idea was to put masking tape on my fingers, but then I saw its legs twitching and decided to put the tape on the end of a pen. It began to wiggle when I dropped the tape on top of it with the pen.
So, I quickly switched the pen for a foot-long paint stirring stick. It took a few tries to get the sucker completely stuck on the tape and tossed in the trash. I immediately put the trash in the dumpster.
Oh, by the way, I shrieked and yelled obscenities the entire time. My boyfriend, who watched the ordeal without offering to help, found it very amusing.
I’m not as pleased. As soon as it’s dry enough outside, I’m going to surround our house with as many cockroach-killing substances as I can find. I would like to avoid using too many chemicals, because they are bad for the environment.
So far the only thing I know to try is diatomaceous earth. Any suggestions?
Originally posted on The Daily Toreador.
