Flick on your kitchen lights, scuttling legs and antennae of cockroaches on your countertops can be a homeowner’s worst nightmare. What all homeowners need to know is that these pesky little creepers don’t just cause the heebie-jeebies, they can also transmit bacteria and contaminate your food. Cockroaches can survive the best-intentioned elimination methods.
Don’t panic, its possible to get rid of cockroaches with the following few tricks and tools or call professional pest control Kitchener.
Identify the problem and seek expert opinion
There are more than 4,000 cockroach species in the world. The most common being the American and German cockroach. The German species have light brown bodies with two parallel dark stripes that are down the sides and measure about an inch long. The American cockroaches are slightly bigger at 1.5 inches and reddish-brown. They typically live outside in areas that have large garbage heaps.
Cockroaches will taint your food with illnesses that cause E.coli and salmonella. Therefore, you should not take their infestation lightly. In case you are struggling to get rid of them, it’s important to find out where they are coming from. At this point, you may need to bring in pest control professionals. They have the skill and experience to point out the source of the issue and the particular species you are dealing with.
Stop their food supply
Just like any other living organism, cockroaches need sustenance to survive. But unlike people, they will scavenge for almost anything that is left out for them. These include unopened food, crumbs, and debris. A good rule of thumb is to always clean leftover or spilled food. Forgetting a cereal box at the back of your cabinet is a gold mine for cockroaches. It’s also important not to leave any unwashed dishes in your sink or counter.
Your garbage needs to be stored in a bin with a tight-fitting lid, and ensure that you take it out regularly. Also, avoid leaving leftover gunk or residue at the bottom of your bin after you take the trash out.
Eliminate their hiding spots
Apart from food, roaches need a place to live and thrive. They love crannies and nooks, stakes of papers and a cardboard box. If you have any lying around your house, take them for recycling. Cleaning up clutter deters cockroaches from staying in your home.
Avoid spraying, instead set out bait
While good sanitation in your house is key, you could implement some other methods in your war to eradicate roaches. Baits are an ideal method and very simple to apply. It’s very important that you do not spray pesticides in large areas since they could contaminate surfaces that otherwise shouldn’t be contaminated. Baits are less risky and a cleaner way to control this particular problem.
Seal cockroach entry points
Cockroaches can scuttle and flatten their way through window screens and even cracks. Therefore, it is important to shut out any future invaders by sealing off gaps that are between the interior and the outdoors. You could use materials such as clear caulk, steel wool or door sweeps. It’s also advisable to get down to the floor level and look through your entryway.
It’s also important not to forget about the things that you bring into your home either. Old furniture and groceries are prone to have a few hitchhikers hiding. Ensure they are thoroughly inspected before getting them into your home. Shutting out these unwelcome creepers by making your home inhospitable is a sure way of keeping their yucky habits away for good. However, if your problem is out of your hands and you have more than a dozen cockroaches running around your countertops when you are sleeping, it’s vital that you contact your local pest control service before the invasion gets out of hand.