Most people associate a roach infestation with a dirty house or apartment, or generally unsanitary conditions. They believe that the roaches, in their quest for food, water and shelter, will pass up an immaculate home and keep looking until they find a nice nasty place to settle in. And while a bit of splattered grease and a periodic supply of crumbs will encourage an extended stay, those are not generally the circumstances that lead the roaches to any particular spot. The truth is that any home or business is susceptible to a roach invasion regardless of its state of cleanliness.
Here’s hoping that this can alleviate your stress about roaches appearing in your home- it’s not about how clean you keep your castle. Roaches can get into the cleanest living spaces, because in most situations we unknowingly bring them in. One may have burrowed into a paper grocery bag or a curbside furniture-find, or jumped into your briefcase or clothing at work. Most cockroach infestations begin because they are brought into your residence or business. Still, that’s not to say that they don’t venture in from an adjoining building, from the neighbors house, through old sewer drains, through cracks under the door, along wire and pipe entries, or a number of other ways. But for the most part, they generally hitch a ride on some person or thing. Some specific examples:
- Packages and packaging: roaches can travel in the folds and seams of cardboard boxes and paper bags, sacks of potatoes or bags of fruit, as common examples.
- In suitcases or other travel items: people who travel a lot run the risk of carrying a roach or two or even eggs in their belongings.
- On a person: this could happen with anyone, but especially with those who work in areas that are prone to roaches. People who work in food service, in warehouses, storage facilities, loading docks, etc. might easily be unwitting transport to roaches.
- On items borrowed or lent: roaches returning in an item from someone’s infested home increases the chances of them setting up housekeeping in yours.
- Garage, flea market, rummage sale or curbside items: roaches are found a lot here, and these items can be an unfortunately excellent ‘transportation system”.
For the most part, the single large roaches that people see in and around buildings, often referred to as “water bugs”, are oriental roaches that are usually easy to control with one or two applications of insecticide, and some exclusion measures such as tightening up and sealing areas around doors and putting sink stoppers in drains. These are most often adults that have simply found their way in from the outside, and are not signs of established colonies on the inside. On the other hand, multiple sightings of any roaches, especially German roaches, at all growth stages including nymphs is the sign of an infestation of established colonies that are reproducing. If left unattended, they can reproduce at an alarming rate.
Roaches are so adept at hiding for survival, their eggs can be carried into your house without you knowing it. Since roaches are nocturnal, you may not realize you’ve helped them start a family in your living space until there’s way more than enough of them to notice.
