Just the sight of one of these multi-legged, hard-shelled visitors crawling across the floor is enough to make your toes curl, and your screams can hit high notes you didn’t realize were possible. But what are you dealing with?
Roaches are a large, disgusting insect, with six legs, and 18 knee joints. (We were sure you’d want to know that.) There are more than 5,000 species in the world, but the most common are the German cockroach, and the American cockroach.
Initially cockroaches may infest your home from the outside, finding cracks, gaps under doors, and other ways to enter the home, attracted by warmth, darkness, and spoiling food or standing water, in things like open garbage pails, unwashed dishes. As big as they may seem, a cockroach can insinuate itself through an opening as thin as a dime when young, or a quarter as an adult. They don’t like light, which is why many homeowners can’t believe it when the cat or dog presents them with the remains of their latest victim. But you can’t depend on your pets to control the population.
The first measure in getting rid of cockroaches is hygiene. If you have stored vegetables that are rotting, open containers of food in cupboards, or unsecured garbage pails, remove all refuse and replace containers with those that seal tightly. Check under appliances, in cupboards, basement corners, and other dark places for traces of a black gritty dirt that has an oily appearance. This is roach feces and a sign that you do have a problem.
Once your home is cleaned, your choices in removing them are to do it yourself, or to have the home professionally treated by a pest control company. Which you choose, may depend on the severity of the infestation. The primary means of destroying roaches are contact poisons/sprays, and residual sprays which leave time released ingredients in your cupboards and on the surfaces where sprayed, that will work over a period of 2-3 weeks. There are also the infamous roach motels that can be placed in your cupboards. Sometimes it may take a combination of several methods, such as an immediate contact kill substance, and then roach motels in places where you have evidence of previous inhabitants. Once your immediate problem is eliminated, you can also take preventative measures, such as sprinkling powdered boric acid in between walls, and around foundations where they may have entered the house. This is generally a safe product, and will be carried on the roaches feet, to wherever they are hiding and breeding.
And one important note of caution for you: Pesticides can be highly toxic to humans and pets. Spray treatments for roach elimination should never be carried out without proper respiratory protection, and first removing of all food, pets and dishes or other items that your food may come in contact with.
By: Brenda H. Murphy
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Visit www.LearnHowToRemove.com for a growing library of tips to remove those annoying messes in your life.
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You’re the average person with a not-so-average cockroach problem, and all you want to do is figure out the best way to effectively get rid of those.
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January 18, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Get Rid Of Roaches
If you think the only good roach is a dead roach, you’re wrong. For even dead roaches can cause harm in ways you’ve probably never imagined.
Scientists say the dead roach’s eggs, shell, blood and digestive enzymes can trigger allergic reactions in sensitive individuals, particularly asthmatics. These potential allergens can remain in the environment long after the roach has died.
Brian Key, chief of allergy and clinical immunology at the University of Kentucky, said about 60 percent of asthmatics are allergic to roaches. The usual victims are laboratory workers, students and field workers who are frequently exposed to roaches dead or otherwise, according to Dr. Francois Haas and Sheila Sperber Haas in ‘The Essential Asthma Handbook.’
"A report by the US Agricultural Department cited studies which show that millions of people are allergic to cockroaches. Reactions can range from a runny nose and skin irritation to difficulty in breathing, shock, and in extreme cases, even death," said the editors of ‘Health Alert’, a publication of the Health Action Information Network.
To crack down on roaches, here are some suggestions from ‘Insect and Rodent Control Through Environmental Management: A Community Program’ published by the World Health Organization (WHO):
Avoid dampness within the house, especially in the kitchen and near water pipes and sinks. Repair leaking faucets, make sure the drainage is working, and avoid spilling water.
Keep the house clean and tidy. Clothes and other household articles should not be kept on the floor.
Store food in close containers or keep it inside closed cupboards. Household refuse should be placed in closed containers and disposed of properly.
Improvements inside the house can eliminate the hiding places of roaches. Plug cracks and crevices in walls and floors.
Keep yards and vacant lots clean. Articles which are no longer used should not he placed there.
Make adequate arrangements for both liquid and solid waste disposal in the community.
Aside from this, the following measures are recommended by ‘Consumer Reports’:
remove clutter – newspapers, piles of boxes, and so on from areas where you’ve seen roaches.
Outside, trim bushes near air vents to keep roaches from getting into the house.
Don’t leave pet food out for long. (Next: Bloodsucking bugs.)
To strengthen your body against diseases that bugs bring, take Immunitril – your first line of defense in maintaining a healthy immune system.
By: Sharon Bell
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Sharon Bell is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and published author. Many of her insightful articles can be found at the premier online news magazine www.HealthLinesNews.com. For details on Immunitril, visit www.bodestore.com/immunitril.html.
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