Cockroach Control & Removal
Cockroaches are everyone’s idea of their worst nightmare. Scurrying creates that quickly multiply from a few unwelcome visitors into a population of thousands, they also pose a significant public health risk. As known carriers of diseases as dysentery, gastroenteritis, diarrhoea, typhoid, poliomyelitis and salmonella, if you spot these insects in your home or business, you simply must get professional pest control help – NOW!
Cockroaches and food
There is no doubt that the main attractant to these insects is food, making them the number one enemy of commercial kitchens the UK – and, indeed, the globe – but they can also find their way into domestic properties too.
During the day, they hide unseen in cracks and crevices, usually around places where there is food and water, coming out to ‘hunt’ for food overnight. They eat anything from food to wallpaper and, because they can hide in the smallest of places, exterminating them can be difficult.
There are 3,000 known varieties of cockroach species but here in the UK, only 3 are known: the German cockroach, the Oriental cockroach and the American cockroach.
Identifying the cockroach
Their high risk to human health makes the extermination of any cockroach an immediate priority and the identification of the cockroach is the first step in this process…
German Cockroach
The smallest cockroach of the 3, measuring between 12 and 15mm in length.
Light brown in colour, with 2 dark strips on the body. These can also occasionally fly and can also climb on smooth surfaces.
Oriental Cockroach
Measuring twice the size of the German Cockroach at 30mm in length, they are dark brown in colour and ‘scuttle; along the floor.
This species cannot fly and can climb plastered walls.
Often mistaken for beetles.
American Cockroach
Reddish brown in colour, they measure 20 to 30mm in length.
Despite being found in the UK, instances of infestations of the American Cockroach is rare.
A cockroach infestation – what to look for
Due to their threat to your families health (and customers of your business too!), dealing with the issue of a possible infestation needs to be done quickly – and effectively.
The first step is to ascertain the extent of the infestation and this is usually done by placing monitoring baits at intervals in the infected area. This type of bait emits a pheromone, an attractive smell to the cockroach; they arrive in great numbers, becoming trapped on the sticky bait.
As well as using effective treatments, pest controllers advocate that the area is given a thorough and deep clean, including the use of cleaning materials and steam, if at all possible. Cockroaches breed quickly and they are resilient insects too, making their eradication difficult. Poison is also required to deal effectively with the infestation!
Observing the following signs is also a way of determining if you have a problem;
- Seeing them – nocturnal insects, you may see them scurrying towards the walls or outer edges of a room when you flick a light on
- Shed skin – cockroaches shed their skin every 5 to 8 days as they mature, and finding this skin is one way of knowing you have cockroaches
- Droppings – their droppings are black or brown in colour; hard and pellet like in the absence of a water source, but dark ‘splodges’ if there is water
- Smell – cockroaches give off an unpleasant, musty smell
- Damage to your property – they eat almost anything, from wallpaper to food, to materials, books, papers and clothing, including any plastic packaging to hand…
Time to call the professionals!
If you have notices signs of a possible cockroach infestation, then you simply need to call us. Don’t wait, assuming they will go away as they won’t!