I JUST FOUND OUT THE MOST HORRIFIC THING ABOUT MY OLD MACHIN

Believe me, I learned this in my childhood from trips to Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head Island, Sanibel Island, etc. When you are hired by the resorts you are told that the word cockroach is not to be a part of your vocabulary. They are "waterbugs".

People in my part of North Carolina call them tree roaches and say they got in the house accidentally and only want to go back into the trees to live!

rooster wrote:Believe me, I learned this in my childhood from trips to Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head Island, Sanibel Island, etc. When you are hired by the resorts you are told that the word cockroach is not to be a part of your vocabulary. They are "waterbugs".

People in my part of North Carolina call them tree roaches and say they got in the house accidentally and only want to go back into the trees to live!

Well, if that's true, Ricky's got some splainin' to do...

Okay. Just spoke to the hubs and he said it depends on what part of the US the person you're speaking to is from. He holds to the fact that they are two different bugs but...

So I did some internet searching and there are opinions in both directions, but I found these, which were the only things I could find that didn't come from a pest control company. Note, it lists a waterbug and a cockroach as having two distinct "scientific names."

However, like I said earlier, it's a B-U-G, not a pretty little ladybug, and no one wants any one of those, or more, hiding in their cpap machines. Just the thought...

http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg39.html
Waterbug Info

http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg22.html
Cockroach Info

While I was a bit put off by the cockroaches in the CPAP machine, I did take a few biology/botany/zoology classes in college.

I hate to have to say this, but--we had a GORGEOUS 3-4 inch long South American variety of cockroach in the Zoo lab once. There are many varieties of cockroaches.

It was always my understanding that water bugs were CALLED water bugs for a reason. They live in, on, and around bodies of water....

While I was once apalled to move into an older apartment with cockroaches, I am glad to say that after the first encounter (much as Sleepless in LI described) during which I trapped a few to present to the management--they were sprayed away, mostly. I was told that the only way to really rid the place of them would be for the entire building to be evacuated and fumigated.

While I was all in favor of this, some of the other residents and the management were not. Needless to say, I was especially careful not to move them to any other homes. They are difficult to avoid, and can come into the home in a number of ways, i.e. dog food bags, pop (soda) can 12 packs, etc. Then they are hard to remove permanently.

It is not so true that they are only attracted to filth. They can survive for a long time on very little, which is one reason why the buggers are still surviving after all this time. I believe that they are right up there with the crocodiles and alligators, as well as sharks, in surviving from prehistoric times.

They are also very tough. I recall a Paul Harvey ad that told about the cockroaches surviving in a microwave oven, which was in use.

I think of cockroach infestation as somewhat similar to head lice infestations. Even the cleanest among us can have head lice, if exposed to the little buggers properly.

Insects may rule the world someday; and in the swampy areas of Michigan this year, the mosquitoes are trying to take over. My hometown used to have a drive-in movie, and before "Silent Spring" they fogged twice for mosquitoes with DDT while we would be sitting in our cars, waiting for the features. Mosquitoes still tried to sneak in through the vents, and we often had to stuff the window crack where the speaker wire came inside the car.

Now, what about those palmetto bugs in Florida?

Hi cacadd94,

See!!! Things are really picking up!! Looks like you have some observers clamouring for jobs already!

They seem rather qualified with their personal knowledge of the main ingredient, and what's more - willing to take that extra step. Already they are consulting family and advanced sources of information. I suspect they have personal secrets that will make a new business venture a real success!

Just be careful! Even though they seem to have a grasp on how to penetrate the hospitality/food/beverage industry and have a keen knowledge of how the basic product can be enhanced to fulfill a wide variety of menu options - tree, water, palmetto, plain cock etc etc. Don't let them take the upper crack, so to speak. YOU have the the production facility -proven in fact. YOU have the preferred CPAP - location, location, location. And most of all, they seem to sence YOU as their leader - go for it!

Big business awaits you!!

Bob F

Sorry,

Was so anxious to get on the ground floor, I forgot to log in.

The above post was mine.

Bob F

In deep mining, (coal) rats won't live below a certian level in the mine, but cockroaches will follow you to the center of the earth. My buddy caught some in a deep shaft mine, and painted them with florsent orange paint, and turned them loose. He freaked out a lot of old miners that day. I wasn't there, I am smart enough not to go in a shaft mine, but where I worked it was still easy to be covered over.

There are different kinds of cockroaches in the U.S. The Woods Cockroach lives outdoors by choice and they can fly, and are about 2 inches long. Waterbugs are waterbugs, they are about the size of the woods roach, but are wider, they live in moist, not water, they don't move as fast as a roach.

The most troublesome roach is the German, they are smaller and fast like grayhounds, usually they come home from the store. Roaches don't come from living dirty, they are after food, without food they will eat their waste and their dead. They are surivors, and they will outlast mankind. Jim

We have trouble with carpenter ants. I mix boric acid with sugar or pulverized crisp dried apples and set out where the ants have been seen and suddenly lots of dead ants to vacuum up. They carry it back to the nests. Do Not let pets get near the bait it is toxic to them but works well. Boric acid used to be used in eye drops.

Islandwoman wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 19, 2019 5:53 pm

We have trouble with carpenter ants. I mix boric acid with sugar or pulverized crisp dried apples and set out where the ants have been seen and suddenly lots of dead ants to vacuum up. They carry it back to the nests. Do Not let pets get near the bait it is toxic to them but works well. Boric acid used to be used in eye drops.

If you're seeing dead ants in piles, you're using too much boric acid, and killing them before they get back to the hive, to kill it.

https://dengarden.com/pest-control/bori ... cide-sugar

Also, boric acid isn't really very toxic to mammals. (much less so than caffeine)

I know this is an old thread, but that was hilarious! I hate to laugh at others problems, truly, I was horrified for sure. But, Uncle Bob, you are too funny! What sitcom do you write for? Honestly hilarious!! I am glad someone brought up the carpenter ant issue for the pure pleasure of reading this thread. Luckily, I live in the mountains of the west, and I'm certain we don't have any cockroac.... Um, no, I mean "waterbugs".