Dead american cockroach (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Cockroaches
Cockroaches are one of the most infamous household pests in San Antonio, TX. They are always on the lookout for food and water and will invade our homes through small cracks and crevices.
Cockroaches are known for spreading diseases by transporting microbes on their bodies. Some of the diseases they can spread include: polio, typhoid fever, leprosy, and bubonic plaque. They have also been shown to cause allergic reactions in humans, and are linked to asthma. Other unpleasant side effects cockroaches can cause are food poisoning, dysentery, diarrhea, parasitic worms, and urinary track infections. In addition to all of those, cockroaches also carry over 40 different types of bacteria.
Because of all the different problems and diseases cockroaches can cause, you definitely do not want them in your home. So what are some of the most effective ways to kill cockroaches?
Methods of Killing Cockroaches
1. Manual smashing. Taking a shoe, book, or anything heavy, and applying it with great force on top of a cockroach will most certainly get the job done.
Pros: Quick knockdown, inexpensive, provides instant gratification
Cons: Time-consuming, messy, only works for a few bugs at a time
2. Boric acid. Spreading boric acid powder in cracks and crevices with boric acid has long been a common way to effectively kill a cockroach.
Pros: Highly effective, roaches never know it’s poison
Cons: Roaches won’t die for a day or two, worthless when wet, can be lethal to humans if ingested
3. Home insecticides. Sprays or powders, bought at hardware stores, and then applied to surfaces, cracks, and crevices have the ability to kill roaches.
Pros: Convenient, easy to use, kills fast
Cons: Cockroaches sense poisons to avoid, may develop a resistance
4. Cockroach eaters. Spiders, centipedes, emerald cockroach wasps, and lizards all eat cockroaches.
Pros: Highly effective, natural solution to cockroach problems
Cons: Depends on how much you like spiders, centipedes, wasps, and lizards
5. Cockroach bait traps. Cockroach baits contain a slow-acting insecticide incorporated into a food attractant typically concealed in a small plastic bait tray. Roaches locate and feed on the bait.
Pros: Easy to use, relatively inexpensive
Cons: Take weeks to work, less effective than other methods, traps can be unslightly
Professional Cockroach Control
Professional cockroach control. A competent pest control professional, that treats all aspects of your home and property, will come to your home regularly to eliminate these filthy pests and PREVENT cockroaches from ever entering your home.
Pros: Quite simply the best method to kill, and control cockroaches. For more on cockroach control, click here.
Cons: Some incompetent pest control professionals cannot always kill or prevent future cockroach infestations.
The most effective method of killing and controlling cockroach populations in and around your property is to hire a pest control professional. If you are frequently seeing numerous cockroaches in your home, forget the do-it-yourself methods and contact a cockroach control professional today! It’s just easier!
Bulwark Exterminating
118 Broadway Street
San Antonio, TX 78205
(210) 224-2706
bulwarkpestcontrol.com
San Antonio Chimney & Wildlife Control
333 West Olmos Drive #123
San Antonio, TX 78212
(210) 607-0347
texaschimneywildlife.com
Orkin Pest & Termite Control
4902 Center Park Boulevard
San Antonio, TX
(866) 713-9979
orkin.com
