I'll tell you what cockroaches DON'T like...

[glatt]

when we fixed the sink in the basement so it no longer leaked on the floor down there, it got rid of their water source and our roach problem went away.

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

What was that computer game, where you were a cockroach? I never could get past the cigarette in the street.

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

Mojo something?

OH yeah, Bad Mojo.

Thanks Shaw, that was bugging me.

[Clodfobble]

Or if you really want to avoid the poison route, some friends of mine bought two geckos from an exotic pet store and released them under the sink in their kitchen. Never saw another roach. On the other hand, the house was extremely old with spaces between the boards everywhere, and they knew the geckos would be living in the walls, not stuck under the kitchen sink.

[lumberjim]

Originally Posted by dar512

I lived in some pretty low-rent places while going to college. All of them had roach problems when I moved in - and didn't when I moved out.

I was working at Sears part-time and got this advice from an old-timer. Boric Acid and sugar. Both are powder. Mix some together and put some behind the fridge on a piece of cardboard or something. Pull out the bottom drawers of your cabinets and put some on the floor underneath. These are places your kids can't get to but the roaches will.

I've never tried this on southern roaches, but it has worked everywhere I've tried it.

got any tricks for these buggers?:

[lumberjim]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

Or if you really want to avoid the poison route, some friends of mine bought two geckos from an exotic pet store and released them under the sink in their kitchen. Never saw another roach. On the other hand, the house was extremely old with spaces between the boards everywhere, and they knew the geckos would be living in the walls, not stuck under the kitchen sink.

I would do that, but i think Dennis might be interested in tasting lizard.

[dar512]

Originally Posted by lumberjim

got any tricks for these buggers?:

I never see more than one or two of them in a year, so I've never bothered looking into it. Do you have lots?

[SteveDallas]

Mrs. Dallas used to take great pleasure in listening to the little beasties run around in the Roach Motels.

[lumberjim]

Originally Posted by dar512

I never see more than one or two of them in a year, so I've never bothered looking into it. Do you have lots?

only during summer months and after a heavy rain. we have a hella old house, and the basement is ...interesting.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by SteveDallas

See, LJ, this is why people from Texas are so strong and resourceful. They have to be. We northeastern milquetoasts just can't compete.

Bullshit, both Tuft's University (MA) and Westinghouse Steam Turbine Div (PA) had 3 inch roaches in the steam tunnels.
Boeing (PA) only has 1.5 to 2 inch roaches, though they do have brown squirrels.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by DanaC

So....you have roaches and you chose to torment and taunt the roach to death?


Poor little bugger. Running pell mell for cover and safety, every avenue terrifying and deadly.

Yes, YESSS. That's it, exactly. The intention was to inflict maximum psychological terror (if possible, or applicable) not just quick death.

Does this make me a sociopath?

This isn't a living thing that is of the class I feel empathy towards. I killed this thing the same way a flu virus kills a little African kid--viciously, horrifically, and with no remorse. In this case I was taking revenge for the psychological terror that these things inflict upon me, with their incompatible nervous system sending out it's creep-vibes, making me shudder. I know they do it. They're alien. They're not life as we know it. I feel perfectly justified in regarding them as an enemy that needs to be terrified, tortured, and disposed of in the worst way possible. And I sincerely hope that they send out some kind of distress signal, notifying any others nearby that a hell of unimaginable magnitudes is what they will find in my house.

[BigV]

Boric acid, in a weak solution (~1.5%) is a common eye wash. It's pretty benign.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Remember, if you step on a cockroach you'll be tracking eggs everywhere you walk, so clean the bottom of your shoe.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by lumberjim

got any tricks for these buggers?:

Sticky traps work well, but only if you don't let your cat(s) down there.

Click on this post at your own risk. Heeby jeeby warning.

[lumberjim]

Originally Posted by Flint

Yes, YESSS. That's it, exactly. The intention was to inflict maximum psychological terror (if possible, or applicable) not just quick death.

Does this make me a sociopath?

This isn't a living thing that is of the class I feel empathy towards. I killed this thing the same way a flu virus kills a little African kid--viciously, horrifically, and with no remorse. In this case I was taking revenge for the psychological terror that these things inflict upon me, with their incompatible nervous system sending out it's creep-vibes, making me shudder. I know they do it. They're alien. They're not life as we know it. I feel perfectly justified in regarding them as an enemy that needs to be terrified, tortured, and disposed of in the worst way possible. And I sincerely hope that they send out some kind of distress signal, notifying any others nearby that a hell of unimaginable magnitudes is what they will find in my house.

I recommend beheading them, and posting their heads on toothpicks in your windowsills.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Beheading doesn't kill them, they'll keep laying eggs like the energizer bunny until they starve to death.