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Sacramento's Ultimate Cockroach Prevention Guide
December 4, 2020
Residents of Sacramento, CA see all sorts of pests year-round. Most of these pests are completely harmless, (though annoying), but if you plan on living in California these winter months, you must watch out for cockroaches. Most people know how disturbing cockroaches are: they look alien, smell awful, and always scare people. However, cockroaches also pose a serious threat to your health. Let’s go over how to identify these pests and the havoc they wreak in Sacramento properties.
Identifying Sacramento Cockroaches
There are several different cockroach species in the Sacramento area, and although each roach has different features, they all share the same basic characteristics. Cockroaches have six legs, body-length antennae, and flat, oval-shaped bodies. Some cockroaches have wings, though most do not fly; rather, cockroaches run from place to place between dusk and dawn. Different species of cockroaches vary mainly in size and color:
- German cockroaches, the most common of roach infestations in the United States, only grow around ½ an inch and have tan-to-brown bodies. Additionally, these roaches have two black stripes on their heads.
- Brown-banded cockroaches measure around a half an inch. They have a light-to-medium brown color, and they have distinctive bands running across their wings.
- The American cockroach, the largest of any U.S. species, grows between 1-3 inches and has a dark reddish-brown body.
- Finally, the Oriental cockroach (also known as water bugs) have black, shiny bodies and grow between ¾ and 1¼ inches.
While other cockroaches exist in California, these species are most commonly found in Sacramento homes.
Problems Caused By Cockroaches In Sacramento
Cockroaches vector a variety of serious pathogens, often because cockroaches hang out in dirty places. Dumpsters, sewers, and alleyways are common homes for roaches because although these insects exist naturally in the wild, they congregate anywhere that they can consume organic matter – including waste.
Naturally, roaches pick up diseases in the process of living in dirty environments. If a roach enters your house, it probably didn’t come from a soap factory, it came from a disease-ridden environment. Common diseases that roaches carry include salmonella, dysentery, listeria, giardia, cholera, and typhoid. Name an infectious bacteria, and a roach somewhere has it.
Finally, roaches can make your allergies worse or even exacerbate asthma. Clearly, roaches have no place in Sacramento homes, so prevention is key.
Cockroach Prevention Tips
The best thing you can do is ward off an infestation before it occurs. Consider the following as part of your cockroach-prevention plan:
- Make your house less attractive to roaches. These pests often come into your home because there’s enough trash, compost, or food for them to feast on outside the home.
- Clean up your yard. Roaches will eat leaves, compost, and other organic materials.
- Check all bags and packages you receive. Some cockroaches like to hitchhike, meaning you can pick one up in your belongings. Some roaches even get in through online deliveries.
- Reduce humidity. Cockroaches prefer warm, damp spaces that they can hide out in during the day. This includes crawl spaces, basements, bathrooms, and the kitchen.
- Seal any cracks in your windows, door frames, or home exterior. Make sure there are no air or water leaks in your masonry.
Having trouble with cockroaches in your home? Don’t waste another second trying to get rid of them – call Sacramento’s best pest control professionals today at Neighborly Pest Management. Learn more about our home pest control and commercial pest control services.
