Cockroaches: When do you have a problem?

Picture this average night: It’s early evening and you just finished dinner. Now you’re sitting on your couch watching your favorite show. But suddenly your partner, or kid, or dog needs something from you that’s in the kitchen. So being the great person you are, you obliged and pause your show heading into the kitchen. You flip on the light and WHAT WAS THAT? 

You just saw a roach scurry across the floor. Oh no! Your mind starts racing. What does this mean? Do you now have a roach problem? If you see a roach that has to be bad right? Or you know it was just one and it was so fast, maybe it wasn’t a cockroach. Maybe even if it was, it’s no big deal? 

The thing is as pest control experts we see many people over and under-react to pests. We’ve seen infestations where people were still wondering if they even had a problem and homes that had one spider in one corner one time and yet we treat. Vigilantly. Regularly. 

Different people have different tolerances and perceptions of pest problems. When it comes to cockroaches though, that tolerance should be low. And the perception of a pest problem should be set at 1. If you see even one roach in your home, you have a roach problem. Here’s why. 

Meet the German Cockroach 

The most common cockroaches found in the United States and the world as a whole are German cockroaches. German cockroaches are small and light in color. Like all other cockroaches, German roaches are social animals and ALWAYS live in colonies of a few hundred (see the problem yet?). And they are nocturnal, cautious, and resilient. 

Roaches are very troublesome pests because of how quickly they multiply, how well they hide, and how difficult they are to eliminate. This is a problem because cockroaches not only destroy your home but also spread diseases. 

The Cockroach Lifestyle 

Cockroaches are mostly nocturnal, meaning they only come out at night. They like to feel secure and achieve this security in a few different ways. 

First, they always travel in groups and live in large colonies meaning they are never alone. This is why seeing even just one roach is a problem. If one is for whatever reason isolated it would only be for a second. A good rule of thumb is for every one roach you see there are at least a few dozen more within a few feet of that exact spot! 

The second way they like to make themselves feel safe is by squeezing into tight spaces. They feel most comfortable when their backs and stomachs are pressed down on. A nice piece of corrugated cardboard sitting next to a trashcan is a cockroach’s dream home!! Another reason why seeing one out in the open is a problem. A cockroach would only expose themselves to this type of danger if they were desperate for space or food. 

1 Cockroach = Roach Infestation 

All of this all means that seeing even just one roach means you likely have a roach infestation. Roaches will always be in groups and will always stay in places where they are highly secluded. It is very unlikely that you would even be able to sneak up on a roach given that they are so good at hiding. Roaches can sense changes in the wind and air around them and can typically detect that you’re coming before you even enter the room. 

So if you are seeing one roach it is because they are either: 

• Desperate for space because of overcrowding in prime areas 
• Desperate for food because of the overcrowding around obvious food sources 
• Isolated and forced out of the colony by larger roaches, again because of the overcrowding 
• All of the above 

How to Treat a Roach Infestation 

Roaches are invasive but they can be handled. The tricky part is that they are so resistant to treatment. As the old saying goes cockroaches could withstand a literal nuclear blast! (This is not entirely true. They would only be able to withstand nuclear radiation. The explosion would cause temperatures far beyond the capacity for any living thing to survive!) 

To treat roaches effectively it generally takes working with a qualified pest control expert who knows where to treat and how to think like a roach. Even the most seasoned and thorough home owners can miss a roach. And if you miss one roach, even if you’ve eliminated 5,500 you will be right back to an infestation in less than a month. 

The treatment process will include finding the colony’s core and eliminating it, removing food sources, sealing gaps, preventing reentry, traps, and specialized chemical treatments. 

Treating roaches is not for the faint of heart. They are hard to eliminate and you have to eliminate EVERY SINGLE ONE! Not to mention they carry diseases, which can make it dangerous to treat if you aren’t being careful.

If you’re up for the challenge it doesn’t hurt to talk to a professional first. We offer free phone consultations to answer any questions you may have. And if you’d rather leave the pest controlling to us, we can help with that too.