Natural Pest Removal and Deterrent Strategies

Welcome to my blog—unless you are a cockroach. If you are a cockroach, prepare to get crushed! As you can probably already tell, I hate bugs. I have nothing against smashing them flat and dead. However, I am also an environmentalist, and I don't like the idea of using potentially harmful chemicals to deter, kill or remove pests. If you feel the same way, this blog is for you. I am going to explore everything from natural remedies to get rid of bugs to tips on choosing an environmentally friendly pest control person. Whether you have mice, rat, cockroaches, ants or other pests, I hope this blog helps you get rid of them naturally and efficiently!

6 things you never knew about cockroaches

Articles

You know that you don't want them in your kitchen and that they give you the creeps. But what else do you really know about cockroaches? Here are 6 facts about the critters that might reaffirm or subvert your suspicions about these most hated of bugs.

A cockroach can live without its head for a week. Think you've defeated that cockroach in your kitchen by stamping on its head? Think again. Cockroaches are hardy creatures that can actually survive without their own heads for a week. First of all, there is no risk of uncontrolled bleeding because the neck of the insect simply seals up. Secondly, it breathes through holes in its body so it doesn't require a mouth for breathing. It will only eventually die because it needs a mouth to take in water.

A cockroach can hold its breath for up to 40 minutes. Okay, so the head tearing thing didn't eliminate that pesky cockroach so why not try drowning it instead? Good luck with that because a cockroach can hold its breath for up to 40 minutes and so giving it a quick dunk under some water isn't going to do much. The reason why a cockroach can remain breathless for so long is because this is a method of regulating water loss from the animal.

Cockroaches will pretty much eat anything. And this is why they love your kitchen so much. They are drawn to sweet things, so it's a very good idea to keep a tightly sealed lid on the sugar jar and the honey pot, but they don't eat sweet things exclusively. They'll eat hair, wallpaper paste, glue, and so much more that is just lying around your house. While this makes them a nuisance in your home, they are a great thing for the natural environment because they consume all the garbage that other animals don't want.

Cockroaches can survive without food for a month. While the cockroaches in your kitchen might be eyeing up your sweet goodies, they actually need to consume very little food to survive. In fact, because they are cold blooded, they can go without food for up to a month. This means that the solution of removing cockroaches from your home might not be quite as simple as removing food traces and having a clean kitchen, and you might need to invest in some more intensive pest control solutions to get rid of a cockroach problem for good.

Cockroaches have different personalities. The next time you are planning to step on a roach, you might reconsider when you realise that every cockroach has a different personality – just like humans! Scientists have found that some cockroaches might be bold and adventurous while others will be timid and shy. Cockroaches are thought to have different personalities as a way to promote the "survival of the fittest". If one type is weaker then the other type will still survive and cockroaches will live on.

One of the largest cockroaches is your neighbour. That's right, one of the hugest varieties of cockroach is native to Australia. This is no common house pest but a gigantic insect that lives in the forest of south Australia. The Giant Burrowing Cockroach can reach up to 8cms in length and can weigh up to 35 grams. It is the heaviest cockroach in the world, and there is only one other cockroach that is longer. Some people even keep the Giant Burrowing Cockroach as a pet, so if you are looking for something a little more out of the box than a pet rabbit, it could be right up your street.

If you have a cockroach infestation in your home, contact a pest control specialist like Stewarts Pest Control.

Share

27 February 2015