Creepy Chitin Covered Invaders
When I had to deal with a roach infestation in my new apartment, first I used fumigation candles, which I think are also called sulfur candles. I set them up in all the rooms - and the basement - and the apt upstairs (that was also vacant, and the owner thought it reasonable of me to want to reduce the roach population there as well). The fumes are toxic, so I decided to let the next door neighbor know what I was doing in case she smelled something odd, or the roaches all migrated to her half of the house.
I knocked on the door, and as soon as the lady invited me in I knew where all my roaches were coming from. They were migrants from next door. I declined her offer of a seat on the sofa, because I could see roaches running on the wall behind it, and wasn't that a dark bit of motion on the back of the sofa itself? Yuck. The dish of dogfood was crawling. The overflowing trashcan had its share of motion. How can people live like that? I don't know, but she seemed blind to the infestation. *shudder*
After the candles had done their work, I used the vacuum cleaner to remove the many dead roaches. And the semi dead ones. There were a few that were running in frantic circles because only the legs on one side of the body seemed to work right.
Digression: A vacuum is a good way to deal with a fly, a wasp or a moth that's trying to be elusive. Yes, it kills them by clogging the spiracles with dust, which is why I run it for a couple minutes after catching one. There's always some spot that could use a pass with the vacuum cleaner, or two. /digression
When I was all done, I stuffed crumpled aluminum foil into the few small holes I found from my cellar to theirs.
Next I set out Roach traps with sticky floors to see if I had ended the alien invasion. I liked the roach motels, because besides being inexpensive, you could pick one up and not worry about poison. Sometimes a very large roach managed to walk part way through, you could see his tracks in the stickum, but I checked the traps morning and evening. If I found any live critters in it, I stuck it in a small brown paper bag, and then into the microwave for a few seconds. I think it was 10, but that's quite a while ago. I do remember the first time I put it in for too long a roach exploded.
Another place I lived there were a few large dark six legged beasties in the kitchen. Mentioned them to the neighbor (it was a row house) and she said they were Water Bugs. OK, looked like roaches to me, but whatever. Roach traps and vacuum cleaner kept them down to a rarity.
I knocked on the door, and as soon as the lady invited me in I knew where all my roaches were coming from. They were migrants from next door. I declined her offer of a seat on the sofa, because I could see roaches running on the wall behind it, and wasn't that a dark bit of motion on the back of the sofa itself? Yuck. The dish of dogfood was crawling. The overflowing trashcan had its share of motion. How can people live like that? I don't know, but she seemed blind to the infestation. *shudder*
After the candles had done their work, I used the vacuum cleaner to remove the many dead roaches. And the semi dead ones. There were a few that were running in frantic circles because only the legs on one side of the body seemed to work right.
Digression: A vacuum is a good way to deal with a fly, a wasp or a moth that's trying to be elusive. Yes, it kills them by clogging the spiracles with dust, which is why I run it for a couple minutes after catching one. There's always some spot that could use a pass with the vacuum cleaner, or two. /digression
When I was all done, I stuffed crumpled aluminum foil into the few small holes I found from my cellar to theirs.
Next I set out Roach traps with sticky floors to see if I had ended the alien invasion. I liked the roach motels, because besides being inexpensive, you could pick one up and not worry about poison. Sometimes a very large roach managed to walk part way through, you could see his tracks in the stickum, but I checked the traps morning and evening. If I found any live critters in it, I stuck it in a small brown paper bag, and then into the microwave for a few seconds. I think it was 10, but that's quite a while ago. I do remember the first time I put it in for too long a roach exploded.
Another place I lived there were a few large dark six legged beasties in the kitchen. Mentioned them to the neighbor (it was a row house) and she said they were Water Bugs. OK, looked like roaches to me, but whatever. Roach traps and vacuum cleaner kept them down to a rarity.