Cockroaches are nocturnal and spend most of their life in hiding, making them a hard pest to detect.
Because of this, most infestations are discovered while cleaning or moving.
Among the pests that commonly infest a home, few can claim to turn a resident's stomach quite the way a
cockroach infestation can. No home, regardless of how well kept, is beyond their reach.
How Cockroaches Enter a Home
Normally, a cockroach infestation will begin from outside a home, where cockroaches may be living in piles of wood, mulch, or some similar habitat.
Cockroaches will enter a home in search of moisture, food, and new nesting sites, sometimes slipping in through openings as thin as a dime.
Several species are also attracted to light sources, and may enter a home under a front door or garage door when they see light underneath (other species of cockroach flee immediately when they see light).
Cockroaches & Your Health
Cockroaches are carriers of a wide variety of bacterium, fungi, and viruses -- and they will spread these contaminants on to anything they touch.
Among the dozens of harmful microbial transmitted by cockroaches are salmonella, typhoid fever, diarrhea, food poisoning, dysentery, and more.
Allergens & Cockroaches
To find out how long cockroach allergens can remain in a home, scientists infested an experimental kitchen with cockroaches, allowing them to live there for a year.
Along with the well-known diseases that are spread by cockroaches, the bodies of cockroaches are the source of powerful allergens. These allergens can be found on nearly any part of a cockroach, including its saliva, feces, cast skins, dead bodies, egg cases, and more.
Cockroach allergens have a bigger impact on asthma symptoms than pet allergens or dust mites do. It's been estimated that 23-60% of urban residents are sensitive to these allergens.
Symptoms of an allergic reaction to cockroach matter can be as mild as itchy skin, a scratchy throat, or an itchy sensation in the eyes or nose -- or as severe as skin rashes or acute asthma attacks.
Cockroaches Commonly Found In Homes
However, the following three cockroach species are common in homes throughout the continent:
-German Cockroach
-American Cockroach
-Oriental Cockroach
Cockroach Control Professionals
Experts on the cockroach control industry will often use cockroach bait as a primary tool to eliminate cockroaches.
Placing cockroach bait is an art -- one that is based on cockroach behavior, the species, and suspected resistance to bait by the strain of cockroaches infesting your home.
With larger infestations, baits will need to be "rotated" from time to time as the infestation builds resistance and aversion to particular bait types.
Several small placements of bait are better than larger ones. As long as your infestation is small, a well-placed, pea-sized application of bait is often more than enough.
Professional Cockroach Control
In recent years, pest control professionals have become increasingly adept at eliminating this persistent pest.
An effective professional will integrate many different tools into their efforts, including pest vacuum cleaners to
get rid of cockroaches, sticky monitors to determine the locations and severity of the infestations, and pesticides.
Your local expert will be trained to fill cracks and crevices with insecticides, as well as warm, dark cavities in walls and other areas.
A strategy of using non-repellent dusts and insecticides, bait stations, and other methods will also be customized.
Solutions for Cockroaches
Along with traditional
pest control Melbourne, there are many ways that a resident can maintain their home to discourage cockroaches.
Thoroughly cleaning floors, doing all plates right away, and storing food in cockroach-proof containers will help to remove their food sources. In addition, trash should be replaced often, with a tight lid, and pet food should be removed as soon as the pets are done eating.
A homeowner should also eliminate any sources of moisture or standing water in their home, and seal all possible cockroach entryways, including cracks, crevices, and gaps along water pipe penetrations.
Take the battle to their nesting areas by reducing clutter in your home, as well as moving firewood, mulch, and other debris far away from your house.
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