As if scorching temperatures weren’t enough, it’s also time to confront man’s greatest challenger for control of the Earth – the cockroach.
These tough little beasties, which have survived for 320 million years, have migrated through Africa and Asia, Europe and America. And they are ready to move into your house within the next few days.
The trouble with cockroaches is simple: they are perfectly engineered. They can survive an ice age, can eat anything (including cardboard and shoe soles, though they prefer sugar or meat), and give birth to 40 independent cockroaches every month from maturity until they die at about two years of age. When lacking sustenance, they can survive by consuming their own feces or offspring. They can also vomit food to ease digestion.
They may be entirely deaf and almost blind, but they have a defense against us humans: they carry up to 45 varieties of parasites in their feces, including diseases like Hepatatis B, tuberculosis, gastroenteritis, worms, and even anthrax.
The area’s cockroaches are currently celebrating: they love dark, warm, wet conditions, and are preparing to kick reproduction into high gear in your pantry, walls, bathrooms, and (the true nightmare) toilet bowls.
Exterminating them is a distant dream, experts say. There are more than 3,500 varieties of cockroach, six nationalities of which live in the Guadalajara area: the American, Australian, German, Oriental and Coffee-banded cockroach, as well as the Madagascar version (sold in pet shops for between five and 50 pesos, and measuring about 10 centimeters in length). Between them, they can thrive in almost all imaginable conditions.
How to control cockroaches
- The egg sacs are dark capsules, about one centimeter long. Remove them from wall joints and furniture. The feces look like ground pepper: clean with chlorine bleach.
- Set a trap to identify the enemy: take a short bottle and smear the neck with Vaseline inside. Bait the trap with some food.
- Repair your pipes and walls, and seal all openings.
- Don’t leave out any garbage or unwashed dishes. Regularly clean behind couches and refrigerators
- Seal all holes, and avoid having dark, dusty storage areas anywhere near the house.
Want to kill the invaders you already have?
- Don’t use sprays. They won’t work on the hidden ones, and the effects will last several days. If they see others die, cockroaches will take a brief vacation and return with greater resistance.
- Poison bait is most effective, as it will kill successive generations, because cockroaches eat their dead, as well as the poisoned feces.
- The Reporter’s John Pint swears by boric acid, spread around the house when you are on vacation. It will make cockroaches go completely blind and cause agonizing seizures, which carries its own satisfaction for you, the home owner. Experts have said that boric acid is a carcinogen, however, and must be used carefully. It can be replaced with Max Force Gel, or Seige. Apply these with gloves, out of reach of children and pets.
Remember: no matter how clean or prepared you are, your house may still be invaded. Don’t feel guilty or embarrassed – genetic imperative tends to guarantee a cockroach victory.