I'll tell you what cockroaches DON'T like...

Flint • Jul 21, 2009 1:02 am
Having the nylon tip of a ƒucking drumstick tapping the surface they planned to scurry across--TATATATATATATATATATATATATATA... or maybe, the other way? TATATATATATATATATATATATATATA... yeah, ƒucker, I have two hands. And I don't care how quick on your feet you are, that shit ain't gonna work today.

Yes, run into the sink. TATATATATATATATATATATATATATA... Nope, not gonna get out that way. TATATATATATATATATATATATATATA... Don't mind me while I move the few dishes you were trying to hide behind. TATATATATATATATATATATATATATA... Yeah, one-handed. Smash! Smash! Over here. Smash! Smash! Over there, you'd definitely get smashed the hell out of by one of those giant wooden sticks that are just unmercifully pounding all of the visible escape routes you might have a chance to reach. TATATATATATATATATATATATATATA...

Hey, you like water, right? Aren't you called a water bug? Here's some water for you. Does that make it hard to get a foothold? TATATATATATATATATATATATATATA... I figured you might like to escape into some dark, grimy sewer pipes, huh? Just kidding, though, because there's a wire mesh over the opening, so you're kind of trapped, trying to keep your little head above water. Hot water. Rather hotter than you would like? You're kind of flailing about as if you would prefer less scalding-hot water. TATATATATATATATA...WHAT THE HELL IS THAT-TATATA ANYWAY?

You like Star Wars? You know that scene where Han Solo gets frozen in carbonite? Well, I don't have any of that-tatatatata, but let's just try this Comet. Here ya go. I'll just go ahead and bury you in that-tatatatata. In case you're not-tatatata dead aleady anyway, you might-tata like to get buried in a pile of caustic chemicals, there in the bottom of the sink, you filthy bastard. And I hope you can send distress signals out to your buddies.

Be sure and mention that you had no ƒucking chance to make it out of here alive. You came to the wrong house, and wound up in hell. You son-of-a-bitches may think you are the quickest shit around with your little scurry-in-an-evasive pattern bullshit, but guess what? That shit ain't gonna work around here. You ƒuckers. Try it.
lumberjim • Jul 21, 2009 1:14 am
so....you have roaches? and you told everyone on the internet about it? pooka is gonna be mad about this.
Flint • Jul 21, 2009 1:14 am
We live in Texas, dude. And it rained today.
lumberjim • Jul 21, 2009 1:16 am
is that part of life in texas then?

like.....regardless?
Flint • Jul 21, 2009 1:19 am
No, I mean we could poison them, but, you know, kids crawling around all over the floor and what not.
ZenGum • Jul 21, 2009 1:48 am
Make damn sure you finish that sucker off, Flint, 'cause if you don't, it will survive and mutate because of all the chemicals and stress homones and stuff, and in about five years time, the biggest meanest truck-sized mo-fo mutant cockroach ever spawned is going to come stomping down your street, smash through your front wall with its eight-foot long mandibles, and go TATATATA all over your weak flimsy endoskeletal body with its twelve - count them, twelve! - hairy, hook-like talons, squealing "Hiiishhhhshhhyaaaa! HHiiiishhhhhhssshhhyyaaa!*".



*Cockroach for "Payback time, Twolegs!"


Finish him. Finish him good. Now.
DanaC • Jul 21, 2009 6:13 am
So....you have roaches and you chose to torment and taunt the roach to death?


Poor little bugger. Running pell mell for cover and safety, every avenue terrifying and deadly.
Shawnee123 • Jul 21, 2009 8:39 am
What was that computer game, where you were a cockroach? I never could get past the cigarette in the street.
Shawnee123 • Jul 21, 2009 8:55 am
Mojo something?
glatt • Jul 21, 2009 9:02 am
We used to have roaches, back when I was building my kayak in the basement. I found one of them once after it had gotten itself stuck in a drop of epoxy the morning after I was working on the kayak. I really don't understand how it possibly could have done that, but it was alive, with its rear legs frozen in a drop of now hardened epoxy.
Image

It lived just long enough for me to take a couple pictures.
Clodfobble • Jul 21, 2009 9:15 am
lumberjim wrote:
is that part of life in texas then?

like.....regardless?


And they're a fucking inch-and-a-half long, too. That picture glatt posted? The first time I saw one of those piddly Northern cockroaches, I said in genuine confusion, "Um, that's not a roach... must be, like, a June bug or something."
glatt • Jul 21, 2009 9:19 am
Well, to be fair, the one in my picture is a baby. It's much smaller than a penny. The big ones are more like an inch.
lumberjim • Jul 21, 2009 9:25 am
:: GETS ALL SKEEVED OUT ::
SteveDallas • Jul 21, 2009 10:13 am
See, LJ, this is why people from Texas are so strong and resourceful. They have to be. We northeastern milquetoasts just can't compete.
dar512 • Jul 21, 2009 10:16 am
I lived in some pretty low-rent places while going to college. All of them had roach problems when I moved in - and didn't when I moved out.

I was working at Sears part-time and got this advice from an old-timer. Boric Acid and sugar. Both are powder. Mix some together and put some behind the fridge on a piece of cardboard or something. Pull out the bottom drawers of your cabinets and put some on the floor underneath. These are places your kids can't get to but the roaches will.

I've never tried this on southern roaches, but it has worked everywhere I've tried it.
glatt • Jul 21, 2009 10:18 am
when we fixed the sink in the basement so it no longer leaked on the floor down there, it got rid of their water source and our roach problem went away.
Shawnee123 • Jul 21, 2009 10:19 am
Shawnee123;582815 wrote:
What was that computer game, where you were a cockroach? I never could get past the cigarette in the street.


Shawnee123;582820 wrote:
Mojo something?


OH yeah, Bad Mojo.

Thanks Shaw, that was bugging me.
Clodfobble • Jul 21, 2009 10:28 am
Or if you really want to avoid the poison route, some friends of mine bought two geckos from an exotic pet store and released them under the sink in their kitchen. Never saw another roach. On the other hand, the house was extremely old with spaces between the boards everywhere, and they knew the geckos would be living in the walls, not stuck under the kitchen sink.
lumberjim • Jul 21, 2009 11:32 am
dar512;582838 wrote:
I lived in some pretty low-rent places while going to college. All of them had roach problems when I moved in - and didn't when I moved out.

I was working at Sears part-time and got this advice from an old-timer. Boric Acid and sugar. Both are powder. Mix some together and put some behind the fridge on a piece of cardboard or something. Pull out the bottom drawers of your cabinets and put some on the floor underneath. These are places your kids can't get to but the roaches will.

I've never tried this on southern roaches, but it has worked everywhere I've tried it.

got any tricks for these buggers?:

Image
lumberjim • Jul 21, 2009 11:33 am
Clodfobble;582842 wrote:
Or if you really want to avoid the poison route, some friends of mine bought two geckos from an exotic pet store and released them under the sink in their kitchen. Never saw another roach. On the other hand, the house was extremely old with spaces between the boards everywhere, and they knew the geckos would be living in the walls, not stuck under the kitchen sink.


I would do that, but i think Dennis might be interested in tasting lizard.
dar512 • Jul 21, 2009 11:43 am
lumberjim;582853 wrote:
got any tricks for these buggers?:

I never see more than one or two of them in a year, so I've never bothered looking into it. Do you have lots?
SteveDallas • Jul 21, 2009 11:56 am
Mrs. Dallas used to take great pleasure in listening to the little beasties run around in the Roach Motels.
lumberjim • Jul 21, 2009 12:34 pm
dar512;582858 wrote:
I never see more than one or two of them in a year, so I've never bothered looking into it. Do you have lots?


only during summer months and after a heavy rain. we have a hella old house, and the basement is ...interesting.
xoxoxoBruce • Jul 21, 2009 12:47 pm
SteveDallas;582837 wrote:
See, LJ, this is why people from Texas are so strong and resourceful. They have to be. We northeastern milquetoasts just can't compete.
Bullshit, both Tuft's University (MA) and Westinghouse Steam Turbine Div (PA) had 3 inch roaches in the steam tunnels.
Boeing (PA) only has 1.5 to 2 inch roaches, though they do have brown squirrels. :cool:
Flint • Jul 21, 2009 12:54 pm
DanaC;582810 wrote:
So....you have roaches and you chose to torment and taunt the roach to death?


Poor little bugger. Running pell mell for cover and safety, every avenue terrifying and deadly.


Yes, YESSS. That's it, exactly. The intention was to inflict maximum psychological terror (if possible, or applicable) not just quick death.

Does this make me a sociopath?

This isn't a living thing that is of the class I feel empathy towards. I killed this thing the same way a flu virus kills a little African kid--viciously, horrifically, and with no remorse. In this case I was taking revenge for the psychological terror that these things inflict upon me, with their incompatible nervous system sending out it's creep-vibes, making me shudder. I know they do it. They're alien. They're not life as we know it. I feel perfectly justified in regarding them as an enemy that needs to be terrified, tortured, and disposed of in the worst way possible. And I sincerely hope that they send out some kind of distress signal, notifying any others nearby that a hell of unimaginable magnitudes is what they will find in my house.
BigV • Jul 21, 2009 1:01 pm
Boric acid, in a weak solution (~1.5%) is a common eye wash. It's pretty benign.
xoxoxoBruce • Jul 21, 2009 1:02 pm
Remember, if you step on a cockroach you'll be tracking eggs everywhere you walk, so clean the bottom of your shoe. :yelsick:
glatt • Jul 21, 2009 1:09 pm
lumberjim;582853 wrote:
got any tricks for these buggers?:


Sticky traps work well, but only if you don't let your cat(s) down there.

Click on this post at your own risk. Heeby jeeby warning.
lumberjim • Jul 21, 2009 1:23 pm
Flint;582879 wrote:
Yes, YESSS. That's it, exactly. The intention was to inflict maximum psychological terror (if possible, or applicable) not just quick death.

Does this make me a sociopath?

This isn't a living thing that is of the class I feel empathy towards. I killed this thing the same way a flu virus kills a little African kid--viciously, horrifically, and with no remorse. In this case I was taking revenge for the psychological terror that these things inflict upon me, with their incompatible nervous system sending out it's creep-vibes, making me shudder. I know they do it. They're alien. They're not life as we know it. I feel perfectly justified in regarding them as an enemy that needs to be terrified, tortured, and disposed of in the worst way possible. And I sincerely hope that they send out some kind of distress signal, notifying any others nearby that a hell of unimaginable magnitudes is what they will find in my house.


I recommend beheading them, and posting their heads on toothpicks in your windowsills.
xoxoxoBruce • Jul 21, 2009 1:27 pm
Beheading doesn't kill them, they'll keep laying eggs like the energizer bunny until they starve to death.
Pensive Monkey • Jul 21, 2009 1:27 pm
I'll never forget the time I was on the floor at my apartment in Charleston, SC, watching a movie in the dark...I reached for my can of soda and noticed that the carbonation was especially noisy...thank GOD I picked up on that because I turned on the light and there on top of my can was a big fat roach. Ah, the south. I don't miss that about you.

We do have a leaky basement, though, and have had a few unwelcome guests this spring as a result. Nasty.
Queen of the Ryche • Jul 21, 2009 4:15 pm
Okay Bruce. You just made me throw up in my mouth a little.

No roaches here, but wow. What a Spring.

Normally I find ladybugs quite endearing, but not when your airspace is invaded by them:
http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-ladybugs-071309,0,3028100.story

BLECH
TheMercenary • Jul 21, 2009 5:28 pm
The world after the nuclear war...

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Flint • Jul 21, 2009 5:30 pm
They did that on Mythbusters.
monster • Jul 21, 2009 10:21 pm
lumberjim;582853 wrote:
got any tricks for these buggers?:

Image


oooh yes! we get them in the pottery studio! we deal with them by smushing then into a piece of clay and firing it. makes awesome fake fossils.
ZenGum • Jul 21, 2009 10:45 pm
Jim, Monnie, what the hell is that thing? It has far too many legs. Love the fossil idea though.
monster • Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm
the pottery teacher knows the full latin name. he has it stapled to the notice board where we hang all of the specimins. it's right next to the sink. Sort of like a warning...
lumberjim • Jul 21, 2009 11:41 pm
it's a centipede. nasty, messy to squoosh, they can jump, and they run fast.
ZenGum • Jul 22, 2009 12:12 am
Maybe it is just the angle, but it doesn't look like a regular centipede to me. Oh well, maybe I am just used to the giant venemous centipedes Down Under...
Aliantha • Jul 22, 2009 12:39 am
I was sitting on a log around a campfire once and got bitten on the arse by a centipede. It had massive mandibles. Nothing like that. It got fried along with the log it was inhabiting.

eta: yes it was very funny how high I jumped

Image


It was one of these suckers that bit me! (or one of its cousins)

This is the largest native Australian centipede, growing to 14 cm long. The Giant Centipede is a member of the scolopendrid family, which includes the largest centipede in the world, Scolopendra gigantea - a 30 cm centipede from South America that is able to eat mice and lizards.

Scolopendrid centipedes live in logs and sheltered places and, like all centipedes, the first pair of legs behind the head is modified into a pair of fangs, which contain a poison gland. A bite from the Giant Centipede may cause severe pain that could persist for several days. However, no deaths have been recorded from the bite of any Australian centipede.
ZenGum • Jul 22, 2009 12:52 am
However, no deaths have been recorded from the bite of any Australian centipede.


That's only because people die too fast to say what bit them.
Aliantha • Jul 22, 2009 12:56 am
Well obviously it didn't kill me, but I had a lump on my bum for days.
ZenGum • Jul 22, 2009 2:21 am
We don't need to hear about your boyfriends, thanks.

:bolt:
Pensive Monkey • Jul 22, 2009 3:08 pm
Aliantha;583044 wrote:
I was sitting on a log around a campfire once and got bitten on the arse by a centipede. It had massive mandibles. Nothing like that. It got fried along with the log it was inhabiting.

eta: yes it was very funny how high I jumped

Image


It was one of these suckers that bit me! (or one of its cousins)

This is the largest native Australian centipede, growing to 14 cm long. The Giant Centipede is a member of the scolopendrid family, which includes the largest centipede in the world, Scolopendra gigantea - a 30 cm centipede from South America that is able to eat mice and lizards.

Scolopendrid centipedes live in logs and sheltered places and, like all centipedes, the first pair of legs behind the head is modified into a pair of fangs, which contain a poison gland. A bite from the Giant Centipede may cause severe pain that could persist for several days. However, no deaths have been recorded from the bite of any Australian centipede.


If that's a centipede, I'd hate to see what you Australians call snakes!!
Aliantha • Jul 22, 2009 6:24 pm
Let's not talk about snakes or how on the same camping trip there was a swimming hole up around the bend where we'd go to have a wash in the evenings, but that was also the times the snakes would come down to drink too. Once or twice they decided to cross while we were in the water. Kinda scarey, but awesome in a way too. They didn't care about us. Just went round as if we were a log in the water.
monster • Jul 22, 2009 7:35 pm
lumberjim;583028 wrote:
it's a centipede. nasty, messy to squoosh, they can jump, and they run fast.


So I was going to contradict you, but apparently here there are three different insects commonly called centipede and that one is a "house centipede". what i know as a centipede is a "garden centipede"
kerosene • Jul 22, 2009 10:56 pm
That freaky thing LJ put up there gives me nightmares. 12 years ago, I lived in a very old apartment whose bathroom had these coming out the vent. I had to go across the hall to get my neighbor to kill them for me they scared me so much. For some reason spiders don't do much for me, though. While some people find the need to shriek and in my stepdaughter's case, bring her feet up stomping on the dashboard while I am driving the vehicle, I am not afraid of the spiders. Just wrecks.
TheMercenary • Jul 22, 2009 11:05 pm
lumberjim;583028 wrote:
it's a centipede. nasty, messy to squoosh, they can jump, and they run fast.



House Centipede

The house centipede, Scutigera coleoptrata, is the only species capable of reproducing in homes and is often seen in and around homes where dampness occurs. The house centipede is active at night, moving about in search of cockroaches and other insects. Although centipedes rarely bite, are seldom dangerous and are beneficial because they destroy other insects, most people have an aversion to their presence inside their homes.


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lumberjim • Jul 22, 2009 11:11 pm
they're like big bushy old man eyebrows running up the wall, though.....

fuck that noise
TheMercenary • Jul 22, 2009 11:14 pm
Another tid bit on the house centipede;

Scutigera coleoptrata, or house centipedes, can be found in a variety of locations worldwide and thrive in differing environments. However, in colder months, they infest homes for warmth and protection.

House centipedes measure approximately two to four centimeters in length. Their bodies are grayish-yellow in color, with three dorsal stripes in longitude. While other centipedes have clusters of ocelli, the house centipede is the only species with compound eyes.

House centipedes have only four pairs of legs during the first of their six larval stages. At each molt, these arthropods grow more legs. Adult indoor centipedes have 15 pairs of white-banded legs that are much longer than those of other centipedes. The unusually long last pair of legs resembles a second set of antennae. In female specimens, these legs can be more than twice the length of the body.

Although the body of a house centipede is stout and contains 15 body segments, there are only seven tergites, or plates, on the upper body surface. This configuration allows house centipedes to be fast runners as well as efficient hunters. If caught by a predator, a house centipede will reflexively detach its legs, which it is capable of regenerating at a later time.

House centipedes feed on spiders, bedbugs, termites, cockroaches, silverfish and other common household pests. Although their prey is killed through an injection of venom, the bite of a house centipede rarely induces serious effects in humans.

However, a house centipede infestation can prove troubling and individuals with other known insect allergies should take precaution. Your local pest control professional can discuss extermination options with you.
capnhowdy • Jul 23, 2009 7:24 am
Cockroaches love meteorologists. Not funny haha... funny queer. :eek:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD6ME346RBo
Shawnee123 • Jul 23, 2009 8:21 am
If caught by a predator, a house centipede will reflexively detach its legs, which it is capable of regenerating at a later time.


Awww, Merc...that makes me want to vomit, or detach something. *shudder*
Aliantha • Jul 23, 2009 5:47 pm
lizards detach their tails. That's grosser if you ask me.
DanaC • Jul 24, 2009 6:20 am
Wonder what that feels like for the lizard. When it sheds its tail. Often wondered that.


Disturbs the hell out of me the whole shedding limbs thing. Soo alien. Dropping the little legs also has creep out factor bigstyle. *suppreses a slight shudder*
Aliantha • Jul 24, 2009 6:21 am
probably feels a bit shorter...
Clodfobble • Jul 24, 2009 8:25 am
And off-balance, like when you cut your hair from really long to really short.
Pooka • Jul 26, 2009 11:00 am
To set the record straight... we have only had 2 roaches make their way into our house since we bought it 3 1/2 years ago... we see them outside during a good rain... and I'm sure that's how it made its way in... I was needless to say... horrified... in Texas if you live near trees or water... you have em... doesn't matter how clean you are.
Glinda • Jul 26, 2009 11:51 am
Pooka;584158 wrote:
To set the record straight... we have only had 2 roaches make their way into our house since we bought it 3 1/2 years ago... we see them outside during a good rain... and I'm sure that's how it made its way in... I was needless to say... horrified...


I haven't seen a roach since I moved here five years ago. Probably gets too cold in the Pacific Northwest for them.

Pooka;584158 wrote:
in Texas if you live near trees or water... you have em... doesn't matter how clean you are.


One of the (many) reasons I'll never live in Texas again. :D
capnhowdy • Jul 26, 2009 3:31 pm
Stay away from Georgia palmettos if you can't stand roaches. They own the domain. And will make you aware of it, too. If one gets up on a wall, use a long weapon to oust him. He will almost surely fly right in your face. Bestids.
TheMercenary • Jul 26, 2009 7:32 pm
capnhowdy;584184 wrote:
Stay away from Georgia palmettos if you can't stand roaches. They own the domain. And will make you aware of it, too. If one gets up on a wall, use a long weapon to oust him. He will almost surely fly right in your face. Bestids.


Yea, we keep a whole host of Gekos around, that does a damm good job around our place. And we are 5 miles from the ocean, 150 yards from a major tidal river.
capnhowdy • Jul 26, 2009 7:47 pm
And it's prolly a plus for you when it comes to your car insurance, too. I'll be visiting down home soon. Look forward to meeting you.
TheMercenary • Jul 26, 2009 7:50 pm
capnhowdy;584230 wrote:
And it's prolly a plus for you when it comes to your car insurance, too. I'll be visiting down home soon. Look forward to meeting you.


Absolutely. When you coming?
capnhowdy • Jul 26, 2009 7:56 pm
prolly 1st or 2nd week in August. I have Moose Lodge business there... have to check My calender.(officers schedule from Moose International). I will def let you know. Whiskey's on me.
TheMercenary • Jul 26, 2009 7:59 pm
:thumb: