Does anyone have Palmetto bugs?
I saw one for the 1st time ever in my house and it nearly scared me to death. If I saw one (now dead), does that mean I have more? If so, how do I get rid of them? Are they becoming a problem in Brooklyn these days???
I saw one for the 1st time ever in my house and it nearly scared me to death. If I saw one (now dead), does that mean I have more?
If so, how do I get rid of them?
Are they becoming a problem in Brooklyn these days???
my exterminator said they like to harbor in damp areas but come out for air when it gets too hot and humid. he sprrays but they still seem to congregate behind the boiler in the basement so i decided to put down a few bombs and that worked for awhile.now it is summer and they are back so i had to get a few more bombs until the exterminator gets here, he comes twice a month.they also tend to harbor under the little vestibule for the outside stairs.
We called the big ones water bugs when I lived in a third floor apartment in a 1920’s building in Richmond and there were tons of them for most of the year, really big ones. They were so large they made noise when they walked. The building may have had slightly leaky pipes and there wer other gross aspects to the kitchen so we entered it less and less over time unless we felt like some self extermination. our method involved a metal plate and a quick wrist snap. you had to get them before they started flying. It was quite effective but the squish was getting to the level of manual mouse extermination.
Now I’m on the parlor floor of a brownstone and I’ve seen one or two. And that’s ok becuase I still have my meethods.
Last weeks a saw a really husge one in the open air corridor/courtyard at our hotel in Mumbai. The cleaning person merely touched it firmly on the back with a dust pan and then quickly scooped it up and threw it into a big black garbage bag. Passive agressive pacifism?
You need to figure out where they are coming in from. Any opening is suspect. Check walls, windows and doors for access. Check drier vent, drain pipe, slop sink…These bugs can traverse these arteries of the house with ease.
I’ve had success with the Combat brand of roach/waterbug traps, buying a box of them and then placing a LOT of them around. I would have spread a bunch of them all over. And as gross as it sounds, I once had a cat who was a mouser that also caught ‘waterbugs’ and ate them… The crunching was loud. That’s nature for you!
The 3 H’s — Hazy, hot and humid!!
Yes i saw one in my house for the first time ever and my tenants have claimed to see a few also. Why so many all of a sudden?
I know in South Carolina, you see them in the palm trees, (Palmetto Palms) Unlike german cockroaches, the bigger Palmettos don’t necessarily mean you keep a dirty house. We had one about 8 feet up on our living room wall once and I went to swat it with a broom. The thing took off and flew across until it made a perfect landing on my girl friends forehead. She was sleeping on the couch….
I call the giant roaches palmetto bugs because they can fly and also to distinguish them from the smaller, more common roaches.
They are definitely traumatic. We had one in our apartment the other night and at first I thought it was a mouse!
I hate roaches of any kind but I am not afraid of them. I have a tenant who is. She is unreal. When I was traveling on business last year (the wierd boonies of Brazil), I was getting emails describing how the one her husband killed was bigger than the one he killed 4 days ago. We are talking about total maybe 3 water bugs (Palmetto bugs, giant roaches, whatever). I brought out the guns when I came back, getting an extreminator who blasted every possible architectural crevice in the building with insecticide. He’s been back regularly and I hit the place with stuff to save me some money and this summer she saw TWO. I requested no emails (I feel like Fresh Direct) because now she is scared of ME, since I do not experience a meltdown everytime I see a bug.
I hate roaches of any kind but I am not afraid of them. I have a tenant who is. She is unreal. When I was traveling on business last year (the wierd boonies of Brazil), I was getting emails describing how the one her husband killed was bigger than the one he killed 4 days ago. We are talking about total maybe 3 water bugs (Palmetto bugs, giant roaches, whatever). I brought out the guns when I came back, getting an extreminator who blasted every possible architectural crevice in the building with insecticide. He’s been back regularly and I hit the place with stuff to save me some money and this summer she saw TWO. I requested no emails (I feel like Fresh Direct) because now she is scared of ME, since I do not experience a meltdown everytime I see a bug.