How To Make Sure You Don’t Bring Cockroaches Home From Vacation
Rest. Relaxation. A vacation to remember is what you hope to look forward to. You pack your bags and head out to your destination, have your fun, and pack your bags again to begin the journey home. The laundry begins to loom as you unpack and with all the chaos of settling back in, you miss the sight of the small hitchhiker coming out from the bottom of your bag and scurrying along the floor. You did notice some black specks but mistook them for dirt as you brushed them off to the side. Those tiny black specks were actually eggs from the cockroach you didn’t see that made its way under the dresser in your room. Those eggs have now been pushed under the bed where they will soon hatch new cockroaches. Looks like you just brought cockroaches home from your vacay.
Many people bring home unwanted cockroach souvenirs from traveling. Cockroaches sneak into luggage without you knowing from infested hotel rooms and leave you bringing home an unwanted pest. Do you have upcoming travel plans? Know how to make sure you don’t bring cockroaches home from your next vacation with tips from the experts, and if a cockroach still sneaks by you, Kapture Pest Control will be there to help.
What Are Cockroaches?
Nobody likes a cockroach in their home. Cockroaches are insects that have been around since the beginning of time. Literally, scientists have found fossils of cockroaches dating back to the dinosaurs. These little guys are resilient and able to quickly adapt to all kinds of environments. Cockroaches are roughly about 2 inches long, flat, oval-shaped, with a brownish-black color. They have a shine to them, have wings, and can run abnormally fast. Cockroaches are like nature’s own mobile disposable unit. They eat anything and everything with a special appetite for things that are decaying. Cockroaches will also lay tons of eggs and form a hard shell casing around the eggs to protect them until they hatch. The protective shell is what makes cockroaches so resilient because it can withstand almost anything. Soon enough a bunch of cockroaches will emerge and you will have an infestation on your hands. The exoskeleton of cockroaches is hard and leathery at the same time. This uniqueness gives them the ability to survive countless situations where their life is threatened. It is very hard to squish a cockroach because their body becomes like a rubber band and is able to withstand a lot of pressure. The main reason cockroaches get a bad reputation is because of their ability to spread viruses. Cockroaches could be ordinary insects we don’t think much about but since they love to roam everywhere and eat everything, cockroaches pick up and distribute a lot of bacteria. This raises cause for concern when they are seen in restaurants near food and in places where we could pick up viruses from where they are roaming around. Having a cockroach run across your table and you touching the table where they were and touching food going into your mouth is enough to come in contact with a nasty virus. This high risk of transmission makes cockroaches a human health risk that needs to be eliminated.
You Don’t Only Bring Cockroaches Home
Cockroaches tend to show up pretty much anywhere. Nowhere is off limits to these almost indestructible creatures. You would think resorts, hotels, condos, and airports would be some of the cleanest places you come in contact with because, on the surface, they do look clean. However, hidden behind the mask of cleanliness lies a line of untreated and overlooked areas and this is exactly what cockroaches look for as a way into places. Having a clean space is important to keep cockroaches out but there has to be a layer of protection and outside treatment as well. Whether you are traveling to the beach or to the mountains, where you stay could very well be overrun with cockroaches. You may not notice them right away because cockroaches do not like the light and typically will hide in dark places and come out only at night. Hotels or house rentals that are close to the ocean, a lake, a river, or any water for that matter are more likely to have cockroaches if they are not properly taken care of. Cockroaches love moisture so they will be around areas where water is and a lot of times rental properties will have leaks that go unnoticed, all while attracting cockroaches to the area. If you are worried about cockroaches being an issue wherever you are staying away from home, you will need to do some investigation of your own. If the rental is near a body of water, it would be worth asking if the rental has routine pest control services and if there has been water damage or past issues with cockroaches. You may want to look under sinks or in dark corners for any signs of cockroach activity. In airports or other travel means, cockroaches can sneak into your luggage if there are any tears or open zippers. Airports are high-traffic areas with a lot of unsealed entry points as well as water, sewer pipes, and food from the restaurants. They can be anywhere with such an easy way in and lots of resources for them to gather food and lay eggs. That long layover you are experiencing with luggage checked in the hanger waiting is an open opportunity for a cockroach to slip on into your luggage and make its way home with you.
How could I have missed them?
How to make sure you don’t bring cockroaches home from vacation 101 is to make sure to check your luggage. Be aware of the potential cockroaches that could crawl into your pile of clothes and look for them before packing up to make sure they or their eggs are shaken out of your stuff. If you missed them, chances are you have left your suitcase open or forgot to shake out that pile of clothes you had sitting on the floor before throwing them in your suitcase. Leaving a wet swimsuit on the floor is the worst because all that moisture attracts cockroaches right to it and they will latch on for the ride or leave the presence of their offspring for you to deal with later once you are home. You could have missed them by leaving zippers open for cockroaches to crawl into or because your luggage has a hole or crack they have easily squeezed through looking for food or just that dark space to hang out. If you have missed a cockroach and brought it home with you, just know you live and learn and will be more aware next time.
What if I brought Cockroaches home?
Everyone does not want to bring cockroaches home from vacation with them, but it happens. If you have arrived home from a much needed vacation with unwanted cockroach guests, the sooner you call Kapture Pest Control, the better. We have already established that cockroaches are durable, adaptable, and easy to miss, and the only way to know for sure you are free from an infestation is to quickly have a pest control company treat your home specifically for cockroaches. Chances of infestation are high if you brought home cockroaches from vacation because not only did you bring home the cockroaches, but you brought home eggs too, which will soon hatch. So while you are washing all your clothes and wiping out your luggage, Katpure Pest Control will be busy treating your home with solutions that will quickly eliminate both cockroaches and those hard shell casings with eggs to stop them from hatching. The goal would be to not bring cockroaches home from vacation but if you do, Kapture Pest Control is ready to meet you.
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