A little freaked out - Found a cockroach outside our house!!!

[RestlessCrow]

Just a little note about Borax. I put it in a Mortar and Pestle with about and equal amount of sugar and crush it all up to a fine powder. The sugar attracts the little critters and then they eat it and die. (I used it for sugar ants in the kitchen.)

Be careful with Boric acid (Borax) around the foundation however as it WILL Kill plants. Get it right up to the foundation and keep it as far away from your shrubs as possible. (I was a plant geek in my former life. (Career))

 

[codybird]

I don't think that boric acid and borax are the same thing.

I think they make boric acid out of borax.

The boric acid is the insect killer.

 

[Clay In Iowa]

Talk to ANY pest control guy... every human dwelling on the planet has roaches... every restaurant.... every hotel.... they are every where.

Lucky you aren't here in Iowa. In the spring every year there are more roaches out in the yard than I care to count. I spray and have the house sprayed but they are everywhere. In the fields, the yard.. every where. We just do what we can to keep them outside. For the most part we are successful but on occasion we see one inside.

 

[HorseFeathers]

We used boric acid traps when we got them on our boat.

 

[shanonspeeps]

Well, here in good ol Alabama we just stomp and kill them there little boogers - NOT! Ewwww!! I can't stand them either. My home is sprayed inside and out every three months. This year has been a little worse because of the rain. I had one in my hair a couple of weeks ago and FREAKED OUT!!! I'm rolling on the floor in the den and my husband and son come running thinking something is terribly wrong and I only have a stupid roach in my hair! If my sister sees one in her home she'll get the bug spray and spray half a can of spray on it! It dies of suffocation instead of poison!

 

[twentynine]

One little ole cockroach and yah going bazzerk!

All I can say is don't ever move to south La. We got roaches everwhere, has nothing to do with your home, wood piles, chickens or whatever, they just grow here.

 

[lleighmay]

Since it's outside (and not sitting on your kitchen counter waving its antennas at you) it's probably some sort of wood roach. I once moved into an old farmhouse and freaked out within the first week because roaches would fly up to the lighted windows and cling to the screens (I thought they wanted in). Did some research and no big deal. I never use pesticides in my yard b/c I don't want to kill all the good bugs... I even let wasps and other bees live as long as they leave us alone (they're great predators). Plus I don't want one of my animals eating poison or a batch of poisoned bugs.....

 

[verlaj]

I never use pesticides in my yard b/c I don't want to kill all the good bugs... I even let wasps and other bees live as long as they leave us alone (they're great predators). Plus I don't want one of my animals eating poison or a batch of poisoned bugs.....

I'm with you. But I do use the Combat baits and Combat gel (where my dogs can't get it) in the house and it seems to help keep the indoor population down.​

 

[Biddylover]

I freaked out about a month ago,similar situation lol. Although thanks to being through an exterminator espisode for about a year and 1,00 bucks later... we learned a few things. American Cochroaches are naturally outisde, they love gardens and trees and water. Sometimes, not anyone posting here, people get embarassed and call them water bugs. They are not the same as your German Cochroaches, they are dirty and nasty and are attracted to dirt and filth and very very hard to get rid of. American's are what we have found in our hen house, and as soon as one of our hens find it they eat it, works for me. We have our feed in tightly sealed containers away from the henhouse. I clean up poop at least once a week sometimes more depending on the weather and if they have had a poopfest. It is humid here, we live near water and I have a garden three things American Cockroaches LOVE. Tractor Supply has Roach spray that is non-toxic to animals and it works, I used it. My chickens even ate one after it had been sprayed and true to what the label said 'NON TOXIC' Jak Jak was fine. Good luck. Blech I hate roaches of ALL kinds

 

[barred-rocks-rock]

we have palmetto bugs