Job Discussion Forums

[TheLongWayHome]

We were discussing this in class the other day for some reason.

How do you kill yours?

Do you secretly enjoy it?

[ontoit]

Reduce the degree of infiltration by keeping the house very clean and very dry. Deal with the experienced ones who go the extra mile by placing poison. Hard-core regulars require your personal attention - insecticide sprays will slow them down, and I usually follow up with a body slam.

Good hunting and take no prisoners.

[ls650]

I don't see many roaches here, but when I do I usually scoop them up and chuck them out the window. Extra points if I happen to bean someone in the head with one.

[hlamb]

Funny, this came up in my class today too! One student asked another if he had ever killed a roach (good use of the target grammar present perfect) and that led to a discussion of how to kill them. The boys seemed to prefer stomping on them with shoes on and the girls favoured using raid or asking someone else to do it.

I've only had to kill one and I did it by mashing it against the wall with a broom. My students told me it was like a rite of passage of living in Mexico to kill the first roach. They have a hard time believing though that we don't have them in Canada.

Which reminds me, my brother saw one in Edmonton Alberta recently! He's a scientist and works in a building with people of every scientific discipline. Apparently someone was studying them and they got out of the cage. Now they've repopulated many times over and are spotted fairly often.

[geaaronson]

Stomp on it with great fanfare.

[MixtecaMike]

I have seen only ONE roach here in Korea in almost two years. It got away the first time, so I put out motels. It came back too big to even enter the roach motel, but my daughter killed it for me.

A workmate had a similar experience, ONE roach appeared, he put out some roach motels and it was never seen again.

I'm guessing it's the kimchi that keeps 'em away.

[geaaronson]

I have used the cardboard roach hotels in the past. They are not quite the four star quality accomodations as the plastic hotels but you can unfold the box and put a little peanut butter, jelly, and sweetbread on the sticky floor. I don�t remember which of those three foodstuffs was the most successful, but I used to catch the nina(o)s by the plateful.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

Those big flying cockroaches are pretty common here. I think in some places they're called palmetto bugs. If I find cockroaches inside the house, they're usually dead or close to it -- same with scorpions and snakes -- thanks to the cats. For me ants are a much more annoying insect problem. Lots of different sizes and colors with different preferences for what attracts them.

[ls650]

The most common annoyance here are something the locals call 'palomitas' They are small round brown bugs that fly into the apartment, land on the floor, and die. These critters only seem to hang around for the month of June. They're called palomitas because when you scoop them up they feel exactly the same size and weight as popped popcorn.

[geaaronson]

Yes, I do believe as well that they are palmettos. I have had similar doubts as to that naming as there is a breed of horses with almost the same name.
Lately, I have seen these little tiny white bugs that I mistook for incinerator ashes at first. Once prodded, they take off.

[delacosta]

I hate to admit it but I do on accasion kill cockaroaches. I normally don't kill any of the critters that are common around our house, tarantulas, scorpions, centipedes(cuarenta manos), etc. But my wife can't stand roaches-so I've prepared a non toxic cocktail that they find irresistable: boric acid mixed in with flour, chopped onion and a little cooking oil. Boric acid is harmless to humans but kills insects in a few days after they eat it.

[TheLongWayHome]

Surprised not to see more Raid usage. Went thorugh an entire can in my last place--where they turned up more or less dead. Landlady stiffed me out of half the deposit so I left a few in some drawers.

[snorklequeen]

thanks for the "recipe," Delacosta! i'll try that

roaches are very common in Houston, Tejas

cheers,

Queenie

[delacosta]

*beep*?
Took me a minute to fugure that one out. WHat I was trying to say was a non toxic c**ktail!

[Ben Round de Bloc]