# Dead roaches **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 8, 1999, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-roaches/5203 "1999-12-08T22:09:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dbwordgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@dbwordgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dbwordgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 1999, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-roaches/5203/1 "1999-12-08T22:09:00Z")
Hate 'em more than anything except live roaches. But can anyone tell me why they flip over on their back when they die? (I live in Florida, where the roaches can double as doorstops, so this is IMPORTANT to me.) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 1999, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-roaches/5203/2 "1999-12-08T22:32:00Z")
Actually, they don’t. Only the roaches killed _by poison_ die that way. The rest overwhelmingly end in the belly of some hungry bird or bigger bug–or on the bottom of your shoe. But when they’ve been poisoned, they go into convulsions. They probably flip over a couple of times, but finally they flip over and are too drunk to right themselves. Those are the ones you see. BTW, you know why birds like cockroaches??? It’s the rich creamy filling. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 1999, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-roaches/5203/3 "1999-12-08T22:46:00Z")
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