Few creatures are associated with fear and uncleanliness as much as cockroaches. Cockroaches are an important part of several ecosystems, but when they enter our homes, they become enemy number 1! This is true across cultures. When I lived in South Korea, we dreaded seeing small cockroaches in our apartments. Local residents would tell us that if you’ve seen one you have a bunch living in your walls. There was even a local women who went to the hospital because she had one crawl into her ear canal. Regardless of where I have been, cockroaches have been an epidemic people have abhorred.
Idaho has a unique relationship with cockroaches. The first thing to state is that households and businesses do experience cockroach problems in Idaho, and because of that Barrier Pest Control offers cockroach control treatments to residential and commercial clients. However, there is one obvious difference between Idaho and other places dealing with cockroach problems: cockroaches do not exist as a natural part of the outdoor environment in Idaho. This means that buildings are very unlikely to infested with cockroaches by the creatures simply walking in – although un-infested structures near infested structures could have a transfer of population depending on pressures within the infested structure. How, then, do cockroach problems start in buildings in Idaho?
The answer is simple, and yet difficult to prevent: cockroach problems are brought in from another infested location. A common vector of these pests are cardboard boxes, especially boxes containing produce. These most commonly afflict restaurants and commercial kitchens who frequently receive shipments of produce and have places of harborage (i.e. dish rooms with high humidity and food scraps typically found in floor drains). In residential settings, shipments from areas with high cockroach populations can bring them home. As often as possible, avoid bringing shipments like these into the home, destroy the cardboard boxes they come on as soon as possible. While this is not the only way cockroaches can enter a structure, it is one that frequently plagues residential and commercial customers. If you notice any suspected cockroach activity, contact us. We can have a licensed, trained technician perform an inspection and give you treatment options to help get rid of you problem.
