# Well F\*\*K! I Just Killed a Cockroach **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 20, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751 "2014-12-20T16:41:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/1 "2014-12-20T16:41:06Z")
Mother Fucker! I opened up a cabinet and the little shit was sitting right there. I have no experience with these things. Does this mean I have to chuck everything in the cabinet? It’s all sealed jars. Does this mean my whole apartment is infested? Ugh, I need to buy a house. What steps should I take? ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/2 "2014-12-20T17:34:01Z")
I live in an apt building and I battle these things all the time. I find the little water traps you can buy with poisen water do a pretty good job of keeping them at bay. I cleaned out all the cabinets, under the fridge, and under the microwave to start. I have been able to keep them under control but I still see them now and then. Mostly the tiny babies I think that come through the electrical outlets. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/3 "2014-12-20T17:43:46Z")
It means nothing unless you’re a Buddhist. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/4 "2014-12-20T17:48:43Z")
Luckily there’s nothing really edible in the cabinets (unless bugs have a taste for paprika and bay leaves) and everything that is in there is sealed tight. Still it freaks me out. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/5 "2014-12-20T17:56:57Z")
[The Master speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/20/whats-the-best-way-to-kill-cockroaches) The felines in the **DrumBum** house are ruthlessly efficient in their pursuit of cockroaches although the crunching sounds are quite jarring. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/6 "2014-12-20T18:40:55Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Luckily there’s nothing really edible in the cabinets (unless bugs have a taste for paprika and bay leaves) and everything that is in there is sealed tight. > > Still it freaks me out. Bugs actually do quite like paprika. Don’t know about cockroaches specifically, but I keep paprika on the freezer because it quickly gets I fested with weevils or something similar here. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/7 "2014-12-20T18:49:25Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Bugs actually do quite like paprika. Don’t know about cockroaches specifically, but I keep paprika on the freezer because it quickly gets I fested with weevils or something similar here. Sing it, P. I have never been so sickened by the sight of food as when I found a batch of BBQ rub wriggling after I added the paprika. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/8 "2014-12-20T19:01:39Z")
No Shit?! OK - into the freezer with the paprika. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/9 "2014-12-20T19:06:58Z")
Ok - anything else they love? Oregano, basil, thyme… ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/10 "2014-12-20T19:44:22Z")
OK, I just put my own paprika in the freezer, ha ha! Sorry about the roach, Zoid. As an apartment dweller, do you have any recourse through the city, the health department etc.? Does yout Landlord know? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/11 "2014-12-20T19:46:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Bugs actually do quite like paprika. Can’t blame them, their diet must be bland. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/12 "2014-12-20T21:01:05Z")
Call a professional exterminator ASAP. I wasted a lot of money buying useless bug killer at the store. Boric powder. Roach bombed the house multiple times. Tried all that junk. Roach infestation just got worse and worse. The poisons the public can buy are too weak and useless. Even with a professional it took several follow up visits. He asked me to save several dead ones in a jar. Helped him identify which kind and he adjusted the type of poison. I was surprised to learn roaches come in from outside. The poison they spray around the foundation does more good than spraying inside. Spraying inside is needed at the beginning to kill the infestation. But afterward the foundation spraying keeps them from returning. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/13 "2014-12-20T21:06:35Z")
Been roach free 9 years. They spray quarterly. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/14 "2014-12-20T21:34:56Z")
I posted here a month or two ago utterly freaked out because I saw a roach in my house. I immediately went out and bought Borax, roach traps and spray. Moved appliances and deep-cleaned everything. Went through cupboards and checked for open/spoiled bags or containers of anything edible or drinkable. Etc. Once I read online that if you see just one, there’s a thousand more you’re not seeing I felt sort of sick. :eek: If it’s any consolation, **zoid** , I haven’t seen a single sign of roaches since. About the time I saw the roach, I’d unfurled a large tarp that had been folded up by the side of my house outside (for about a year, so it was matted with dirt and old leaves), shook it out and spread it flat on my back deck. Several posters here responded that roaches like to live under cardboard and other absorbent materials outside, as mentioned by **aceplace**. I think I had a lone roach that came into my kitchen from the deck. So I also put Borax around the perimeter of the house. Around that time, a friend informed me that it’s not unheard of to inadvertently bring home roaches or roach eggs from [the supermarket.](https://www.google.com/search?q=roaches+from+supermarkets&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) Which is pretty gross, actually. Anyways, I determined that if I saw more roaches I’d call an exterminator but I haven’t, so far. I’ve left the roach bait traps in place, Justin Case. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/15 "2014-12-21T02:16:46Z")
When I lived in NYC, my apartment was infested and I just ignored them mostly. I didn’t bake anything and the oven was heavily infested. It impressed me that they adapted to my sleeping hours (which were 4 AM to noon) and if I got up when they were not expecting me, they were all over. Every once in a while, I would surround the top burners with lighter fluid and then turn on the oven. They would come scurrying out to the stove and then I would light the top burners. Whoosh! Roasted cockroaches. But it didn’t help. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/16 "2014-12-21T04:17:23Z")
I live in Taiwan, so they are almost as bad as the mosquitoes, both of which I’ve gotten very good at killing. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/17 "2014-12-21T05:28:02Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Call a professional exterminator ASAP. > > I wasted a lot of money buying useless bug killer at the store. Boric powder. Roach bombed the house multiple times. Tried all that junk. Roach infestation just got worse and worse. Unlike **aceplace57** ’s experience, I’ve found boric acid to be awesomely, apocalyptically effective in eradicating infestations in several of my old apartment situations. Put it along cracks, joints, borders, everywhere. Looks messy but kicks ass. You can clean it up in a few hatch cycles. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/18 "2014-12-21T05:33:40Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Ugh, I need to buy a house. Yes, because houses don’t have cockroaches. The apartment complex I lived in back in Albuquerque regularly sprayed all the units for bugs. A lady I knew in one of the other units didn’t want hers sprayed, so they left hers alone. Hers was the only one, so all the roaches went there, but she couldn’t figure out why she had so many. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/19 "2014-12-21T05:39:26Z")
My previous place was constantly infested with them. They lived in the garden mulch in the flower beds. When I came home at night there would be plenty of them in the headlights. I used to put out a set of those baits that they eat and go back to the nest to die. That would cler them up for several months at a time. I saw one in my new place a few weeks ago but I’m not going to bother about it unless I see more. They are just a ubiquitous part of city life. I saw one at work a while ago, many floors up in a modern office that is regularly treated for bugs. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751/20 "2014-12-21T05:43:45Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Yes, because houses don’t have cockroaches. > > The apartment complex I lived in back in Albuquerque regularly sprayed all the units for bugs. A lady I knew in one of the other units didn’t want hers sprayed, so they left hers alone. Hers was the only one, so all the roaches went there, but she couldn’t figure out why she had so many. I have control over a house. In an apartment I can be vigilant as fuck and if my neighbors are not my problem never goes away. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-f-k-i-just-killed-a-cockroach/707751.md?page=2)