Elk Grove, California residents see all sorts of pests year-round. Most of these pests are completely harmless, even if they are annoying to deal with. However, if you plan on living in California during any month of the year, there’s one pest you absolutely must watch out for: German cockroaches. Most people know how gross cockroaches are; they look dirty, smell funky, and pop out at the worst times. However, cockroaches, especially German cockroaches, also can pose serious threats to your well being. Let’s go over how to identify these pests, and the havoc they can cause in your Elk Grove home.
Cockroach Identification Guide for Elk Grove, California
The German cockroach has six legs, body-length antennae, and a flat, oval-shaped body. They are the most common of any roach in the United States and account for thousands of infestations every year. German cockroaches only grow around half an inch and are tan-to-brown in color. Additionally, these roaches have two black stripes on their heads.
Although German cockroaches have wings, they rarely fly. These pests cannot remain airborne for long, and if they do fly, it will only be for a few seconds. These nocturnal pests scuttle from place to place at night, which is why you often don’t see them until dusk or dawn. While other cockroaches exist in California, German cockroaches are the most worrisome of the species. They can wreak havoc to your health, not to mention how hard they can be to remove.
Problems Caused By German Cockroaches
German cockroaches are vectors of a variety of serious pathogens. This pest likes to hang out in dirty places, particularly dumpsters, sewers, and alleyways. Although these insects exist naturally in the wild, they congregate anywhere that they can consume organic matter – especially if it’s waste products.
These pests can bring a serious assortment of common diseases with them to your home, including salmonella, cholera, dysentery, listeria, giardia, typhoid, or the plague. Roaches release proteins that some people are sensitive to, especially people with breathing problems. These proteins can aggravate and intensify your allergies and asthma. Long term exposure to these proteins can result in serious respiratory illness that can persist long after the infestation is over. This makes controlling a cockroach problem paramount.
German Cockroach Prevention Tips
The best way to prevent German cockroaches is to reduce the factors that bring them to your doorstep. These pests can survive on anything, rely on very little, and prefer to hide in cluttered, dark spaces. It's important to keep your house tidy and consider the following as part of your prevention plan:
- Keep trash indoors. These pests often come into your home because they can find trash, compost, or food for them to feast on outside the home. These foragers then move inside. Secure your food pantry and supplies by placing them in sealed containers.
- Check all bags and packages you purchase and receive. Cockroaches like to hitchhike, in your bags, boxes, cardboard, and can sneak into your house in many things that you bring home.
- Reduce the humidity in your home. Cockroaches prefer warm, damp spaces where they can hide out in during the day. This includes crawl spaces, basements, bathrooms, and the kitchen.
- Check the humidity in these spaces, and respond accordingly.
- Seal any cracks in your windows, door frames, or home exterior to deny them access to these entry points.
Do you think you may have a cockroach issue or infestation in your Elk Grove household? It's the last thing any homeowner wants to deal with, so don’t waste another second trying to get rid of them. Contact Elk Grove’s best pest professionals today at Pro Active Pest Control.
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