If you’ve seen signs of cockroaches in your home, such as droppings, eggs, chewed food in your pantry, or live roaches, it’s time to get some help from Mission Pest Solutions. Don’t try to tackle these intruders by yourself; the infestation could be much larger than you suspect. Get professional pest control in Jacksonville.
Species Of Roaches That Commonly Invade Homes
Five types of roaches commonly infest Jacksonville homes:
- German cockroaches
- American cockroaches
- Oriental cockroaches
- Brown-banded cockroaches
- Pennsylvania wood cockroaches
German cockroaches are the most prevalent roaches in most homes. They grow about half an inch long, but they reproduce fast. Colonies usually start around your plumbing fixtures and grow in hiding until overpopulation forces them out into the open. That’s when you start seeing signs of the roaches in your home.
The other four types aren’t as common as the German roaches. American cockroaches tend to inhabit restaurants and commercial kitchens. Oriental cockroaches are short-lived, brown-banded roaches jump if you startle them, and wood roaches typically live outside in forested areas.
Why Cockroaches In Your Home Is A Hazard To Your Health
Cockroaches pose many dangers in the greater Jacksonville area, not just to your home but also to your health. Many dangers lurk inside cockroach droppings in your home, including:
- Salmonella: Can cause stomach cramps, diarrhea, and fever.
- Typhoid fever, causes weakness, stomach pain, diarrhea, constipation, loss of appetite, and cough.
- Cholera: Can cause restlessness, irritability, leg cramps, excessive thirst, vomiting, and watery diarrhea.
- Gastroenteritis: This can cause fever, muscle aches, headaches, nausea, vomiting, and watery diarrhea.
- Dysentery: Can cause fever, stomach cramps, weight loss, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting.
- Listeriosis: Can cause muscle aches, headaches, fever, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions
- Giardia: Can cause gas, diarrhea, greasy bowel movements that float, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, and dehydration.
- E. coli: Can cause stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea, and vomiting.
There’s also the risk of a German cockroach allergy. Their droppings can cause allergic reactions, especially in people who have asthma. Children are more susceptible than adults and may have severe asthma attacks landing them in the emergency room or hospitalized.
How To Remove Factors That Attract Roaches Into Our Homes
If you’ve found one cockroach in your apartment, you probably have a whole colony. However, there are steps you can take to make your home less attractive to roaches:
- Keep all your food in airtight containers so roaches can’t get to it.
- Clean up spills and crumbs immediately.
- Wash your dishes right away.
- Limit moisture. Dry your sinks, bathtubs, and showers after use, and use ventilator fans in bathrooms.
- Don’t leave food sitting out, not even pet food.
- Get rid of all the clutter on your counters, tables, nightstands, sinks, and floors.
- Occasionally run water in little-used sinks such as your guest bathroom.
- Look over your kids’ backpacks, groceries, and anything else that comes into the home.
Once you’ve accomplished all that, you can start to look at what repels cockroaches. In one experiment done in a 2012 science fair, documented by the University of Southern California, the student found that savory, an herb with a taste between mint and thyme, repelled cockroaches better than peppermint, clove, or guava.
Some spices and herbs have chemicals that, if concentrated enough, will repel roaches. These include cinnamon, peppermint, lavender, garlic, thyme, spearmint, and rosemary. However, it’s challenging to get the extracts concentrated enough for this to be an effective measure to repel roaches in your home.
The Fast And Safe Way To Get Rid Of Cockroaches
If you’re wondering what kills cockroaches, the answer is simple: insecticides. Baits are one way to kill roaches. You can use commercial bait traps. Put them on the floor or counter, in direct contact with the wall, since that’s where roaches generally walk. The insecticide bait kills the cockroach that eats it, then indirectly kills other roaches that consume the dead roach’s sputum or feces.
If you use baits, you’ll need a lot of them to cover your house. Anywhere you see a roach is a good place for bait, but don’t forget less visible areas. Behind your oven and fridge, beneath your toaster, near your computer and printer, and around any other electronic devices are good places to put the bait.
Some people say that home remedies for cockroaches are effective. They’re wrong. There aren’t any homemade roach sprays that are strong enough to eliminate an infestation.
Your best bet to get rid of roaches is to call Mission Pest Solutions. We are a veteran-owned company with years of experience eliminating your roach problems. Our technicians can be at your home within 24 hours for a free inspection and can advise you on the best course of action to take. Let us get rid of those roaches once and for all.