How Are You Attracting Roaches Into Your Home?
Roaches seem to come out of nowhere. One minute, you’re enjoying a luxurious bath, and then you open your eyes and find yourself face to face with a bunch of creepy cockroaches. It’s enough to make you scream and scamper out of your tub, and you could even bump your head or slip in the process. Roaches can definitely ruin your day. But aside from that, there are health issues in relation to cockroach presence. For one, these bugs are capable of spreading bacteria and viruses that cause illnesses, like dysentery, salmonella, and gastroenteritis, to name a few. If you have a lung problem or other chronic respiratory disease, then you should avoid these critters because they can exacerbate asthma and other allergies.
What Attracts Roaches into a Home?
Cockroaches are attracted to a certain area because of several factors. Here are a few examples.
1. Food Source
Roaches are voracious eaters. Not only do they delight in things that they can find in sewers and garbage, but they are also known to eat non-food items, such as paper and soap. So, one way to keep the bugs away is by disposing garbage properly. If you’re throwing a plastic garbage bag in a bin that’s located outside, be sure to secure the plastic and then cover the bin as well. Avoid leaving uncovered food. If you want to keep some of the meatloaf you cooked for your husband, put this in a Tupperware or any container with a secure cover.
If you keep a compost pile for all your plant and vegetable waste, be sure to take precautions. Composts attract all sorts of insects, and this includes the roach, which is a creature that actually helps in breaking down organic matter. A few things that you can do are: cover your compost with mulch or old newspaper; turn your compost regularly; and avoid throwing meats and dairy products into the compost pile.
2. Water or Moisture
All living things need water to live, and that includes the cockroach. This is why they are drawn to areas in a house that usually remain humid, like bathrooms and kitchen sinks. Get rid of their water source by keeping things as dry as possible. Make sure to close faucets properly after using, and fix any leak problem as soon as possible.
3. Hiding Place
You’ll often see cockroaches hiding in dark and moist areas, or places where they feel safe. For example, they’ll feel perfectly at home underneath kitchen or bathroom sinks, as well as in cupboards, shelves or boxes. To avoid getting roaches, get rid of clutter and properly store items that you don’t often use.
Keeping Roaches Out
In order to further discourage roaches from getting inside your house, you need to employ physical barriers that will keep them out. Check if there are gaps, holes or cracks in your walls or floors, and fix these right away. You can use weatherstripping to close gaps or caulking material. In case you have a severe infestation and no amount of bug spray seems to keep them at bay, then maybe it’s time for you to call an exterminator.
Citations:
Claire Pritchard is a full-time freelancer. Her articles are usually about pest management, and these have been used by pest control sites, like http://www.admiralpest.com/fullerton-pest-control/ .
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May 1, 2013 at 8:04 pm Comments (0)
