Cockroaches in Utah are one of the creepiest bugs around because not only do they come in from the outside, they’ve been known to infest kitchens, bathrooms, and water closets on this inside of homes as well, making them a particularly annoying pest to deal with. It can feel like an invasion from one of those old horror films sometimes, Attack of the Roaches! So here are some tactics you can use against them.
Know Thy Enemy
The first thing in combating any enemy is learning about them. In Southern Utah we have 4 common types of roaches: German, Brown-Banded, American, and Oriental. The first 2, German and Brown-Banded, are smaller species that can and will infest indoor areas, while the latter 2, American and Oriental are larger, but can and will wander inside. Cockroaches are very hard to keep out of your home because they can squish their already flat bodies down to a fraction of their original size. For example a roach that is 12 millimeters tall can squish down to a mere 3 millimeters, which is the height of 2 stacked pennies.
Their life cycle goes from eggs, to nymphs, to adults, so when you see something that looks like a roach but is “too small” it’s probably a roach nymph. Some pesticides actually work by interrupting this cycle and preventing the roach from reaching adulthood so it can’t lay more eggs, which is a good thing because a single adult breeding pair can produce up to 400,000 offspring in a single year.
Keep a Clean Kitchen
No brainer, right? Obviously cockroaches are lovers of food debris and grease, so keeping the kitchen clean is an obvious way to stave off these insects. The places that are going to accumulate food and grease can often be out of sight, and thus out of mind, but it’s important to periodically pull out and clean underneath your stove, your fridge, and even your dishwasher. These places build up filth over time that the cockroaches love and once they’re there the problem will only worsen.
Speaking of dishwashers…in my experience that appliance is one of the biggest hotspots for roaches. There are many small water hookups underneath that can be slowly leaking, it makes a warm and moist environment which they love, and if you store your dirty dishes in the washer before starting a load they have access to food as well! Make sure that the underside of your dishwasher isn’t leaking and is clean, and check the filter inside the washer to ensure it’s free of debris.
Kitchen cleanliness is so important that even with pesticides the roach infestation will be impossible to control until the kitchen is cleaned!
Eliminate Excess Water Outside
Cockroaches are highly attracted to water…especially in areas with hotter climates where natural water is scarce, so it’s important to eliminate sources of excess water. Of course we all want our lawns, bushes, and trees to be green and healthy, but it’s important to evaluate whether or not you’re watering TOO much. If there are certain areas in your yard that are soggy all day long or even for most of the day, you’re watering too much and probably will attract roaches.
In addition to simply over-watering many times sprinkler and drip systems might be broken which causes large pools to form overnight, but by time you wake up in the morning these pools have soaked into the soil so you’d never even realize there’s a problem. It’s important to carefully inspect watering systems, including valve boxes, for any leaks because in my professional experience that is the #1 issue that causes roach infestations to form outside, which then end up being an issue inside.
Depending on the severity of the excess water problem, it may not even be possible to control a roach issue with pesticides until the water leaks and/or excess water problem is addressed!
Manage Pet Food and Waste
Unfortunately our furry friends can attract roaches in a few ways. First off is their food. If there’s dog/cat/whatever food everywhere on the ground, be it inside our outside, this will certainly attract roaches. Try to keep indoor pet dishes away from exterior doors (probably at least 10 feet) so roaches can’t wander in an immediately find food. For exterior pet dishes try to only feed your pet what it needs and don’t leave excess food outside. If you need to leave food bowls outside try to put it them an elevated place, not directly on the ground.
Secondly is their feces. Yes roaches will eat pet feces…gross! I can’t tell you how many customers I’ve had over the years where the core issue with their roach problem is a flat refusal to clean up their dog’s poop. I’m not your dad, but if you want to greatly increase the chances that a pesticide service will completely eliminate the roach problem, help the technician out by clearing out the dog crap.
They Come From Below!
“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life.” -Jean Luc Picard
Unfortunately, in some circumstances, roaches just exist because of factors beyond your control. In some areas, and in St George in particular, they live in the sewers and come from below at night to swarm the sidewalks and driveways. In other cases you might have a neighbor who is guilty of some or maybe even all of the problems listed above, and you just are unlucky enough to live beside them. Or maybe the weather is simply against you because in hot and humid climates roaches will always be a problem. Point is, it’s not always possible to control roaches 100% simply by managing the environmental factors that you can control and a certified pesticide applicator must be called.
Conclusion
So there are some ways you can help your cockroach issues, but at the end of the day controlling the environment isn’t always enough and it’s time to call a professional before the problem escalates. That’s where Newby’s Pest, Lawn, and Weeds comes in! We specialize in getting rid of the little buggers and keeping them gone. Call us today at 435-586-7337 or click the link below to use our easy online form to set up an appointment:
