Why Cockroaches Never Go Away in Schenectady
Have you ever seen a cockroach run down a wall at full speed and disappear into the front of an air conditioning unit? It is unsettling, to say the least, partly because their speed seems scientifically impossible and partly because you're left with the knowledge that you have at least one cockroach living inside your air conditioning unit. If this thought causes you to feel a little unsettled just thinking about it, we have more bad news. If you see one cockroach running on your wall, especially in the daytime, it is likely you have hundreds more in your home. Most cockroaches don't prefer to reveal themselves. They only show themselves when food resources are limited or when their population is high. But what is most unsettling of all is that you can have a cockroach infestation and not know about it. This can expose you and everyone living in your home to illness and possible bites. It is important that we all understand what allows cockroaches to get into our New York homes and some of the factors that make them a pest threat that never goes away.
How Cockroaches Get In
When cockroaches explore your landscaping and crawl around on your foundation walls in search of food, water, and harborage, they are many ways they can get in. Here are a few of the most common.
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Gaps in the weather stripping around doors.
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Gaps around pipes or wire conduit.
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Cracks in foundation walls.
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Damaged door sweeps.
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Gaps on the outside edge around doors and windows.
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Ripped or damaged window and door screens.
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Vent openings that are unprotected.
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Roofline, soffit, and fascia holes.
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Chimney openings.
Many of the openings that cockroaches use are created by other pests. When carpenter ants, termites, rodents, and other destructive pests make holes in the wood of your home, roaches will take advantage of those holes. When squirrels chew on the flimsy material of your soffits, they give cockroaches easy access to your attic. When raccoons damage the gaskets around exhaust pipes on your roof, roaches can slip right into the voids of your home.
Why Cockroaches Are A Year-Round Problem
All year long, cockroaches can use the above entry points (and others not mentioned) to get into your home and take root. But infestations that take root in the dead of winter are different. You're not going to have cockroaches crawling around in the snow that is packed against your foundation wall looking for a crack. Winter infestation usually begins with an infested item that is brought into a home. This might be a piece of furniture purchased at a second-hand store. It might be an item that was bought through social media. It may be an object that was gifted from a friend. It may be furniture brought into your home by someone else, such as a college-age child coming home for the holidays and bringing a few of their dorm room furniture pieces with them. Sometimes it happens when a bag of groceries is brought home from a farmers market. Cockroaches can hitchhike from one area of infestation to another. So you can have an infestation begin even if there is 8 feet of snow in the yard.
What To Do About Cockroaches
These are pernicious insects. Once they get into your Schenectady home, you're going to have a hard time getting rid of them. Cockroaches have fundamental characteristics that make them hard to kill. They avoid threats. They can go for a month without food (not that they have to. Cockroaches can eat some pretty strange things like wallpaper, toothpaste, and feces--good luck starving them out of your home!) And they also have the ability to develop an immunity to insecticides. We highly recommend investing in professional pest control when cockroaches issues arise.
Are you dealing with cockroaches in your Schenectady home, or hoping to never have to deal with cockroaches? Thomas Pest Services can help. We have the tools, teamwork, and know-how to protect man-made structures from cockroaches.
Pests aren't just a nuisance. They can damage your belongings, damage your equity, and spread sickness to everyone living in your home. With Complete Care from Thomas, you'll have the best chance of stopping those pests in their tracks.
