1 cockroach

[Anonymous]

I have lived in this house for almost 20 years and never had roaches. Twice in the last 2 months I have caught a single cockroach skittering away on the kitchen counter. The second one was about a week ago. It's an old house and there are a lot of nooks and crannies--like a some small gaps between the counter backsplash and the wall, gaps between baseboards and the wall, that sort of thing. If it had been just one sighting I would have relaxed by now--had a single cockroach in a place where I lived before this house but never saw a second. Recently pulled out fridge (got new fridge) and stove (I was looking for the model number for a part replacement) and didn't see anything, also cleaned up dust and crud that were underneath.

Just not sure what to think. In college days I lived in a place where we could never get rid of the roaches completely (this was out west and adobe house that shared a wall with the house next door, the original house was a couple of hundred years old), we could abate the population from time to time. DS had an infestation in his apartment (old building)and went to war for a year before the cockroaches vanished (he went Rambo with spray sealers in the end and that kept them out). With 2 sightings a long time apart I wouldn't even know what was working. I read that female cockroaches can reproduce asexually--just hope this one is a male who has not found a woman?

[Anonymous]

^^wasn't able to actually catch the roach, to be clear.

[Anonymous]

It seems unlikely that you have one roach. You probably have one roach that you saw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems unlikely that you have one roach. You probably have one roach that you saw.

This.

[Anonymous]

You don’t have just one roach, ever. If it’s to the point where one is walking around on your counter, there are many more out of sight.

[Anonymous]

Get the poison that they bring back to the nest. Always works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get the poison that they bring back to the nest. Always works.

Recommendation? I VERY rarely buy pesticides. When I have glanced at aisles it's pretty bewildering.

[Anonymous]

I read somewhere that every roach you see represents about ~250 that you don’t.

[Anonymous]

If it was full grown and alive you have an infestation if it was a baby you do not. That’s always what I heard.

[Anonymous]

Pretty certain the ones you've found have not found any women.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read somewhere that every roach you see represents about ~250 that you don’t.

Get some Raid, OP. Get the kind where you can target where you spray, and do all baseboards, entryways, any of those nooks and crannies you were talking about it. If you've only seen a couple, you are catching it relatively early. Be forewarned: the pesticide sometimes draws them out of their hiding places, so you may find dead roaches around the house for a while, which is horrifying. On the other hand, at least they are dead.

I would also take everything out of your kitchen cabinets and counters, and wipe everything down with a bleach solution. Might do the bathrooms, too.

We once saw a single roach shortly before leaving for vacation. We'd been there for 5 years with no issues, so we assumed it was a one-off. We came back from a week long vacation to a literal infestation. There's never just one roach. Treat aggressively.

I once talked to an exterminator who called roaches "lifestyle bugs". They just find somewhere they like and set up camp. The only way to get rid of them at that point is to kill them all.

[Anonymous]

I have had a one random roach experience in a poorly insulated lake house. It flew and was huge. Maybe you saw an outdoor roach like a tree roach that came in.

[Anonymous]

Was it one of those huge waterbug/roaches or a small roach?

[Anonymous]

Will a boric acid mixed with peanut butter or jam work?

The poisonous baits do work...but you need to remove food and dampness from your environment. If you have any wood that is damp you will get all kinds of insects.

I would also spread diatomaceous earth in nooks and crannies. And use painters tape to cover all cracks inside cabinets and behind appliances etc. Also cover unused electrical plugs with a child safety plug.

[Anonymous]

Another thing...when landscaping, make sure you do not have mulch touching your house. Have at least 1 feet of distance between your house and the mulch. I prefer to use stone next to the house.