Cockroaches are one of the most nasty and annoying insects that can build nests inside your home. While they have an important role to fulfill in nature and the food chain, their presence inside any residential home never means good news.
Cockroach infestation occurs in places where there is enough food for them combined with a lack of timely human intervention. Roaches also happen to derive nutrition out of the dirtiest and trashiest things and thus they always carry lots of germs and pathogens on their body, specifically the tiny hairs on their legs.
When they walk through clean food with the very same legs, the germs can get deposited there and be unconsciously consumed by a human being. This is why the presence of cockroaches can bring forth a number of digestive issues apart from some specific diseases that are triggered by cockroaches.
Signs of a Cockroach Infestation
Identifying the signs of roach infestation early can help address the issue promptly and seek appropriate pest control measures to rid your home of these unwanted pests.
There are some tell-tale signs of a roach-infested house. They have been discussed below:-
Spotting More Cockroaches Than Usual
The most common sign of cockroach infestation is suddenly seeing a rise in the number of cockroaches you see throughout the day. Roaches are nocturnal and thus spotting them scampering about when you turn on the lights at night is the most common experience. But if you start to see them in the morning as well then that might be a serious problem.
Too many cockroaches in a limited space with limited resources will force these otherwise nocturnal creatures to come out during the day to feed. You may also start spotting dead cockroaches in open spaces.
Cockroach Droppings
Unlike us, who have a designated and private spot, cockroaches do not hold much regard for privacy. They also will eat almost anything and whenever they find it. That is why they will leave droppings anywhere and everywhere.
Cockroach excreta looks like tiny black powder clustered together. If you see them at multiple places in your home then the infestation is likely to be severe. Cockroaches usually leave dropping right where they eat or where they hide and thus you may find traces of it on:
- On and inside books. They feed on paper.
- Inside pantry cabinets.
- On floors and counters.
- Under or behind electrical appliances like microwave ovens, washers, CPUs, Toasters, etc.
- Bathroom cabinets
Strange Smells
We all know how our house smells. Any sudden funky smell is thus likely to catch your attention. Every cockroach more or less has the same smell but you will probably not notice it if the number of cockroaches is very low. However, if there are too many roaches inside your home, the smell will be very evident.
If you smell a musky and oily odor that seems to get suffocating after a while, it is most likely cockroaches. Cockroaches secrete a sort of pheromone to communicate with their peers.
Besides that, the odor can also come from dead or decomposing roaches, droppings, or just from live roaches in general. A study conducted on the American cockroach found that pheromones in American cockroach feces cause them to move towards the smell’s source.
Egg Sacks
Cockroaches have an alarmingly fast breeding rate. Too many roaches in a house automatically mean that there will be egg sacks of the roaches lying around from which new cockroaches will hatch.
Female cockroaches will hide these egg sacks in very secretive spots to ensure their safety. So if you spot tiny rectangular and cylindrical capsule-like things that are brownish inside books, behind furniture, and in dark areas that are not visited often, then they are roach egg sacks or ootheca.
Roach Skin
The transition process between a nymph or a baby cockroach to an adult cockroach includes the shedding of its skin. In cases of mild infestation, this shed skin may be lying around and we will not notice as it gets swept away by the vacuum cleaner with other dirt.
But in places where there are too many roaches, you may spot these molted exoskeletons of small-sized cockroaches multiple times a week. In any case, whether you spot one or ten, you should look into getting rid of them.
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Stubborn Smear Stains
When cockroaches excrete in a spot, they will often walk through it causing a smear stain on the surface. These stains are very hard to get rid of and have very unpleasant smells. If the stains are on cloth or paper then it will be permanent.
These are very gross, to begin with, and they also emit a stench that attracts other cockroaches towards it. This is a way in which cockroaches communicate and inform their mates of a food source or a safe spot for habitation or hiding eggs.
Signs of Cockroach Feeding
As already mentioned before, cockroaches are voracious feeders and will eat almost anything. Nothing is off limits to them, including your books, corners of cardboard packages, wooden furniture, food waste etc.
So if you spot tiny bite marks or chew marks on the abovementioned spots, it should be treated as a sign of cockroach infestation. Other signs of feeding include droppings near food sources or a trail of food crumbs.
Allergy Symptoms
One of the most important and serious cockroach infestation signs that people do not think much about is sudden allergy symptoms. Most of us do not even know what triggers allergies in our bodies unless it happens to us.
Some people are allergic to cockroaches, their smell, their droppings, their skin, or anything related to them. Living in a cockroach-infested house can trigger allergies in people like skin rashes, sudden colds, fevers, or asthma attacks. Some of these issues may be serious enough to become fatal.
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Final Words
Cockroach infestations are a very common occurrence. This is the very reason that humans have developed effective measures against these creatures. The first and foremost of that is maintaining a clean house. And if that does not help there are many other ways to get rid of cockroaches permanently.
With proper measures, the infestation will not even grow but if unfortunately, your house is under attack from these disgusting pests then you know now how to identify the signs.