Cockroach question

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nunz

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#1982315 23-Mar-2018 17:37

kryptonjohn:

nunz:

Is'nt there an electronic product that makes noise on your electrical wiring that annoys rodents and bugs?

Milage may vary: https://www.todayshomeowner.com/do-ultrasonic-electronic-pest-repellents-work/

Yep, but I'm by default highly skeptical of these things...

i dare ya to try it out on the infestation nad then do a full product report. <sillyness>Think of the money to be made monetizing a page on roach repellents for NZ </sillyness>

It does occur to me - huhu grubs are a delicious native NZ treat. If these roaches are Nz native maybe there is a buck to be made frying or BBQ'ing them and selling them to tourists. NZ's version of cricket on a stick.

Aredwood

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#1982408 24-Mar-2018 02:31

neb:
At my place, I have lots of little brown lizards that I don't want to harm. As my understanding is they eat lots of bugs.
If they're rainbow skinks then they're Aussie invaders that have displaced the native skinks. My place is crawling with them. They're cute, but still taking space away from the locals.

I didn't know that they are an invasive species. Although im still a bit biased, as I like how they eat lots of bugs. Guessing that they don't eat cockroaches though.

Bung

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#1982414 24-Mar-2018 06:54

Skinks would eat cockroaches but as they swallow whole it would depend on relative size. Cats eat both.

neb

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#1982466 24-Mar-2018 10:48

Bung: Skinks would eat cockroaches but as they swallow whole it would depend on relative size. Cats eat both.

With the relative sizes of the cockroaches and skinks around here it'd be a 50:50 gamble as to who eats who.

Rikkitic

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#1982578 24-Mar-2018 16:10

Years ago I read a rather good science fiction story about an alien takeover of earth. The aliens were so alien that they did not recognise humans or their structures as signs of civilisation or even intelligence. They regarded us rather as we see ants, and our cities as termite mounds. In the process of moving in, they incidentally destroyed many human constructions and pushed us to the margins, but this was not done maliciously. They simply treated us the way we treat insects. They left us alone if we were not in the way, but just by being here they destroyed most of our civilisation.

A small group of humans were convinced that they could improve our status with the aliens if they could just demonstrate in terms the aliens would recognise that we were, in fact, intelligent. After many failures they finally succeeded. The alien reaction? Shock, horror, and an immediate dedicated campaign to wipe out every last vestige of humanity.

What I detest so much about cockroaches, which I suspect many others share, is their apparent intelligence. They watch you when trying to get away, and plan their escape accordingly. There is something creepily calculating and self-aware in their actions. How would you react if a cockroach suddenly started speaking to you?

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

neb

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#1982597 24-Mar-2018 17:22

Rikkitic:
What I detest so much about cockroaches, which I suspect many others share, is their apparent intelligence.

This shows what they're really like

JayADee

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#1982664 24-Mar-2018 18:50

Rikkitic:
Years ago I read a rather good science fiction story about an alien takeover of earth. The aliens were so alien that they did not recognise humans or their structures as signs of civilisation or even intelligence. They regarded us rather as we see ants, and our cities as termite mounds. In the process of moving in, they incidentally destroyed many human constructions and pushed us to the margins, but this was not done maliciously. They simply treated us the way we treat insects. They left us alone if we were not in the way, but just by being here they destroyed most of our civilisation.

A small group of humans were convinced that they could improve our status with the aliens if they could just demonstrate in terms the aliens would recognise that we were, in fact, intelligent. After many failures they finally succeeded. The alien reaction? Shock, horror, and an immediate dedicated campaign to wipe out every last vestige of humanity.

What I detest so much about cockroaches, which I suspect many others share, is their apparent intelligence. They watch you when trying to get away, and plan their escape accordingly. There is something creepily calculating and self-aware in their actions. How would you react if a cockroach suddenly started speaking to you?

I'd smoosh it even faster!
In fact, I loath roaches so much if my husband is around I make him deal to it, otherwise I use one of his boots.

That plot sounds familiar, I must have read the review but not the book.

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Linuxluver

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#1982678 24-Mar-2018 19:58

Rikkitic:

I live in an old farmhouse in the country that is more or less permanently infested with cockroaches. I hate the things. Whenever I see one I spray it. We also provide a home to a cat colony that lives under the house and that we look after. We can't fumigate the house because that would affect the cats. Some are tame, others are not, and it would be an enormous hassle (and traumatic to the cats) to trap them all and remove them for the fumigation. So we don't see that as an option.

The question is what other possibilities, if any, there might be. Is there any cat-friendly way to eliminate, or at least reduce, the damned cockroaches? Any suggestions, even silly ones (for the amusement value) are welcome.

What sort of roach?

The little rusty red ones are the imports....and they are going to eat your lunch. The live inside and run real fast. You definitely want to get rid of these guys.

But if you live near a stream or high groundwater or some bush....you may have the native wood roaches.....and they tend to come inside more or less by accident, generally are slow and dumb and easily killed with a tissue and two fingers. They don't eat stuff in your kitchen.....I don't worry about the wood roaches ( I do get rid of them, but they are generally inside by accident)...but those little rusty ones can infest your house and are a genuine pest.

They can grow big and from what I can tell the adults come into the house to die.

Native NZ wood roaches

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#1982683 24-Mar-2018 20:13

if you can't beat them, maybe get them to work for you?

1101

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#1983195 26-Mar-2018 09:47

A customer came in with a laptop for repair : dead Hard Drive
So I put it on the workbench & started to remove the HD.

A seemingly never ending stream of those tiny roaches came running out of it. Out of the vents, out of the open CD tray , out of any small opening.

No fly spray handy so could only sit back and watch. I've never seen so many small roaches .
I found a plastic bag to try & seal the laptop up, by then it was too late. Our office was now infected , over the next few weeks
they started to show up on the walls, benches , everywhere.
Luckily we moved out a month later .

I didnt/couldnt kill all the roaches still in his laptop, so I gave it back still roach infected .
I was too disgusted to really care .
I can only imagine what state his home must be in.

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