I can't STAND Roaches!!

Normally, I am not afraid of much.. but crunchy bugs? NOPE!

So, I live in an garden apartment, and unfortunately, it does come with the occasional roach. So far this summer I saw three.. and two was dead (probably from the cats. I don't like them dead either.. but better than alive!). The cats spotted another today flying around in the light. I did all I could not to scream and disturb the neighbors!

Normally, I'd let the cats play with bugs.. most of them don't bother me.. but seeing a 3 inch roach? NOPE!

I was panicking so hard, chasing after it (And it chasing ME!) with Hot Shot Natural Insect spray.. Kills on contact? Nope! I was FREAKING OUT!! I was literally ducking and running every time it flew towards me!

I was ready to run next door to ask a neighbor to get rid of it for me, I was that scared!

Finally, I took the vaccuum and took the longest extension I had.. and inched closer, praying it would not fly off the wall, and praying the suction was hard enough to suck it down. Thankfully, it was.. and I've never moved so fast to put the attachment back on the vacuum! Now I am scared to even dump out the canister outside! I think I will leave it in the canister for a few days or so and hope it dies in there!

I can't relax now. My heart is still racing. Someone calm me down, please?! I doubt I'll get any sleep knowing there's still roaches around!

PS. I think I accidentally sprayed into my betta's tank.. ugh! I hope to clean the water before it kills my poor fish!

ETA: Now every little movement I see in the corner of my eye, I jump. No sleep for me tonight!

Cant stand them nasties! Roaches, fleas, ticks and mosquitoes are Gods "oops". For real. They serve no purpose, birds can eat other insects, all they do is carry disease and suck blood. I swear, if there was a nuclear holocaust all that would survive if cockroaches and kudzu. I catch and release spiders in the hope that they will catch and kill these worthless vampires.

I had no idea roaches could fly!  I did a Google search and sure enough they can!  http://cancockroachesfly.com/

They can. SC has palmetto bugs. Bigger than but just like roaches. Also flyers but ginormous.

ICK!!!

I am terribly afraid of various similar insects.  My worst fear, due to growing up in Wisconsin, are June Bugs.  In Wisconsin (contrary to Illinois, or at least the area I lived in), june bugs are quite large -- anywhere from 1-2" long and at least 1/2" wide.  They fly and will land on your skin and attach themselves.  At night, they like light, so if you have windows, they're covered in the horrid BZZZ-THWACK sound they make as they fly into windows.  I don't like roaches, either, especially the flying kind.  And I also am afraid of wasps, even though they're not at all in the same category.  When my parents and I were on vacation in Georgia, we were woken up by flying cockroaches.  Ack!

I'm from northern IL and got freaked out as a child by June bugs, as I grew I hated them from the splattered mess they'd leave on the windshield.  We don't have them much here in Indiana but cockroaches freak me out like nothing else.  Watch Hoarders... those houses are infested with them disgusting critters and they think NOTHING of it.  OMG I'd FLIP if I saw two in a week, much less millions.

So if you see one or two roaches, doesn't that mean there are a lot more you don't see?  How do you get rid of them, especially if you have pets? Oh, and can't it crawl back out of the vacuum cleaner?  My mother used to tell me that, don't suck up bugs because they'll just crawl back out again.  We had a gigantic spider in here the other day, came downstairs and turned the light on and there it was.  My first instinct was to call hubby, but I knew he wouldn't come anyway.  So I have this little bug vacuum that you trap them and take them outside, and it was barely enough suction to get this thing.  I took it out, but not too far because I was in my jammies, and it came running back in the garage before I could get the door closed.  So now I'm freaked that it's gonna get back in the house.  I really hate bugs...

Spiders will crawl out the roaches are too dumb or something.  I dunno...  never had them come back out and my vacuum is defiantly my weapon of choice.

I was told if u squash a palmetto bug or roach or whatever those nasty things are you just spread their eggs.  I have been successfully sucking the occasional uninvited guest for years.

Spiders... They climb back out and that's not my deal.  I actually called maintenance for a "water leak" to kill a spider.

IF my cats find these critters before I do the only thing left of the vermin is dismembered bug parts.

LOL!!!!!  Dismembered bug parts!!!!!

I used to have a bug vaccuum: it was a little hand-held thing, and there was a lid you put on it after the bug was inside.  Worked like a charm on almost everything, though I occasionally had difficulties with large crickets.  Tested on various spiders and other insects, but we never had roaches, so I'm not sure.  I wish I knew where it was now.

I would be careful spraying that insect stuff around my cats. I usually whack bugs with the fly swatter. It's fast and it works.:nod:

blueyedgirl5946 said:

I would be careful spraying that insect stuff around my cats. I usually whack bugs with the fly swatter. It's fast and it works.:nod:

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The spray is pet safe. Plus I am too much of a coward to even squish a roach! It's the crunch I can't stand!

Draco said:

It's the crunch I can't stand!

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OMG tell me about it!!!!  That makes me want to barf!

OMG! I had no idea what roaches looked like - 3 inches long??? Ewww. And they can fly - l had no idea either.

l had a boyfriend once who rented an apartment and he said he had roaches in the kitchen so l stopped going over and never saw them     

They just CAN'T be worse than spiders though.

I accidentally washed a little beetle down the sink this morning and I felt so bad

I am OK with spiders.. but I can't accept Roaches!

Draco said:

The spray is pet safe. Plus I am too much of a coward to even squish a roach! It's the crunch I can't stand!

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I don't think there's any spray that's really pet safe, because it's all chemicals.

Misty8723 said:

I don't think there's any spray that's really pet safe, because it's all chemicals.

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Professional exterminators have a spray that is made from different plant extracts that is deadly for all common house insects but safe for pets. It lasts 30 days and works for any insect that crosses the sprayed area. Believe me it works and especially for those huge water bug/flying roaches earlier mentioned! I hate insects in my home, but these xtra large roaches u spoke about are an occassional problem in my new home, and when I see them I freak out! I rent and my landlord is an angel, if I call about any problem she is on it within a week. As an extra precaution I keep Maia in the back room when they spray all the floor perimeters of kitchen, bathroom, living room, any where I see them, and wait till it dries to let her out. Also clean floors before, not after otherwise your removing the spray.

    As long as it is done regularly, you will find them on their backs instead of crawling on the walls or flying at you!

I have had very great results with boric acid powder in getting rid of crawling type bugs like roaches.  It also works on ants or crickets or waterbugs and I hear fleas.  It is very common (try drug store), lightly sprinkle the powder where the bugs will walk through it and it is breathed in by them through their gills and kills them.  My whole apt. bldg. in Philly was crawling with roaches and my one bottle of boric acid powder got rid of them in the whole bldg.  The exterminators used to come in and leave the whole place dripping with insecticide and the roaches would be back in a few days, but the boric acid powder worked.  I have never had any problem with boric acid powder and the cats either.  IMHO much less toxic than bug spray.

Also spiders are good insects.  I never kill spiders.