The Expanse Of Cockroaches In Calgary
Calgary, AB - Cockroaches are a common pest in communities throughout Alberta, and Calgary is no exception. The most common of these unwelcome invaders is the German Cockroach. More than 90% of the cockroach infestations in Alberta are German Cockroaches. We do occasionally see the Brown Banded Cockroach, and we are also starting to see more of the larger, American Cockroaches pop up from time to time. But, in most cases, it will be the German Cockroach, so I will mainly be referring to those.
Cockroaches On A Monitor In A Calgary Home
I still talk to a lot of people who don’t realize that we even have cockroaches in Calgary. I can assure you that we not only have cockroaches in Calgary, but they are also incredibly common.
The best way to protect yourself from getting cockroaches in your home, is to be diligent about checking appliances, furniture, bulk food, and produce that you bring into your home. A messy or dirty home will not increase your chances of getting cockroaches, but it will decrease your chances of noticing a problem early. The earlier they are detected, the faster and easier it is to eliminate or prevent a problem. Once in a home, cockroaches will typically aggregate in areas close to a kitchen or bathroom. These are the best places for them to find the trifecta of food, water, and shelter all within close proximity. Cockroaches will usually only be found in other areas of the home if the infestation is really bad, or if they can find food, water and shelter together in another area such as around a fish tank or aquarium, or if the occupant has used sprays to try and treat the cockroaches. This can cause them to spread out as a defense.
There is a popular myth that asserts that you can never get rid of cockroaches. This is FALSE. Cockroaches are great survivors, and they can be difficult to eliminate unless you know what you are doing. But, they absolutely CAN be eliminated.
Never Spray For Cockroaches
The main reason that people think that you can never get rid of cockroaches is because when people have cockroaches, the first thing they often do is grab a can of the nearest bug spray and start spraying. This is one of the worst things that you can do. Cockroaches have an amazing sense of smell. Everything in their lives including mating, finding food, seeking shelter and navigating their environment is based on their sense of smell. As such, cockroaches are extremely sensitive to smells. While spraying will most likely kill a number of cockroaches that are contacted directly by the spray, there are always many more cockroaches that are not contacted directly, and they will run and hide from the smell of the pesticide. The smell of the pesticide will stress the cockroaches out, and when stressed, cockroaches will change their behavior. The smell of the spray will taint food sources such as crumbs, grease, food debris, or bait that it comes in contact with and the cockroaches will then avoid this food, and seek other food. The smell of the pesticide will taint hiding spots or aggregation areas causing cockroaches to avoid these areas and move to other areas in search of food and safe harbourage. In cases where a little spray has been applied to localized areas, this can cause the cockroaches to spread out into other areas where they wouldn’t normally go, which can make them more difficult to eliminate. In cases where a person, or company, has done a large broadcast spray to multiple areas, cracks, corners and surfaces, this can cause the remaining cockroaches to seek shelter inside walls, inside appliances, under floors, inside ceiling voids, or other hidden areas unreachable by humans unless you rip apart appliances and strip the home down to studs. The stressed cockroaches will stay hidden until they feel it is safe, or until they get hungry enough to risk venturing out to seek food. While they are hiding, they will continue to breed and they will even feed off their own feces and their dead. As pesticides tend to stay in the environment for different lengths of time, this reactive behaviour typically results in repeating cycles where a person, or company, will spray for cockroaches, and then they may not see any live cockroaches for a few days, or even weeks. But then, all of a sudden, cockroaches begin to appear again, and sometimes in new or different areas than before. So, they spray again, and the cycle continues. This cycle can be ongoing, and each time, it is making the overall problem more difficult to solve, and in multi-unit residences, this can also drive cockroaches into neighbouring units, or into common areas. I have seen this many times in the field. So much so, that when I arrive at a home to treat or inspect for cockroaches, I can tell if pesticides have been sprayed in the home based only on the areas of current and previous activity, and the current behaviour of the cockroaches.
When treating homes for cockroaches where no spray has ever been used, it typically takes about 3-7 weeks to eliminate the problem. When treating homes for cockroaches where occasional pesticide sprays have been used, it can take anywhere from 4 to 22 weeks to eliminate the problem, providing that sprays are no longer being used throughout the treatment program. When treating homes for cockroaches where full pesticide treatments have been previously applied, or frequent pesticide sprays have been used, then it can take anywhere up to 43 weeks to solve the problem depending on the population level. Again, this is providing that no chemical or pesticide sprays are being used at any time during the treatment process.
With all the science, and evidence collected from the field over the years, I must state once again that you should NEVER spray for cockroaches.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of pest control professionals and companies who do still spray for cockroaches with a chemical pesticide. Some companies just spray for all insects, and they ask for the same preparation and apply the same chemicals for nearly all the insect pests that they treat for. This is mostly because that’s the easiest way to turn pest treatments into a commodity. This “broad spectrum” approach is an antiquated methodology that rests on the notion that, “If we put enough chemical into the structure, in all the possible spots where bugs may be, then eventually it should kill everything.”
There are many things wrong with this broad spectrum approach. First, the chemicals that were around when this methodology was heavily accepted, were mostly broad spectrum pesticides. They were intended to do exactly that job. Fill all the suspect areas with pesticide and kill every bug that may come into contact with it. Second, a lot of the more resilient insects started to develop a resistance to the pesticides because of so much secondary, or non-lethal exposure. Over time, it took more and more chemical to kill the insets, and some insects became completely resistant to certain pesticides. Third, the broad spectrum chemicals were also having negative, toxic effects on humans, pets and other non-target creatures. I’m sure everyone has at least heard of DDT, a very popular, and albeit, very effective, broad spectrum treatment for pests.
Newer pesticides are much more targeted. A lot of them will still affect a wide variety of insects, but they are created to be applied more surgically, they stay in the environment for much shorter periods of time, and have far less affect on humans, pets and non-target creatures.
Another reason why some companies might still spray for cockroaches is, “It’s the way we’ve always done it, and we get results doing it that way.” This kind of statement makes me cringe. It’s much like hearing someone advocate for why they never wear a seat belt. It completely ignores the science, statistics and the current research and reasoning, and simply rests on the sheer luck that you’ve never been seriously injured while driving. Yes, there are liquid pesticides that can be sprayed to kill cockroaches. Yes, you can kill cockroaches using spray. The question, when you’ve seen all the research and when you’ve been exposed to repeated evidence in the field, is SHOULD you be using pesticide sprays to kill cockroaches.
The last reason why some companies still spray for cockroaches is a lack of patience or trust when using other methods, which stems from a lack of training, or lack of understanding the larger picture. These companies begin treatments by using alternate methods like baiting, or dusting, but they often don’t have proper training in the proper application of these methods, or they rush the application - these methods do tend to take more time to apply and many technicians are simply in a rush to get to their next job - which can give limited results. Or, they don’t fully understand the history of the affected home, or the previous or continued use of sprays, and they don’t set or relay proper expectations to the client. So, instead of understanding and conveying that based on the population level, and the history of the home, the treatment program will likely take 4-24 weeks for complete extermination, the client gets frustrated that the cockroaches are still present. After a couple of treatments, even the technician loses faith and reverts to spraying. This gives a more immediate appearance of results, but often sets up a cycle of recurrence.
So, if you should never spray for cockroaches, what is the best method for exterminating cockroaches in a structure?
The best method for fast, and permanent elimination of cockroaches is with a program that offers proper inspections and monitoring along with the proper use and application of a variety of special baits, and sometimes insecticidal dusts. The baits are generally in a gel or dust form and can be safely applied in almost any area of the home. When applied or placed correctly, they don’t pose a risk to humans, pets or non-target wildlife. This method can also be delivered with no preparation required and the occupants of the home do not even need to leave during treatments. This type of program yields permanent results no matter how large the infestation is, but it requires monitoring and upkeep throughout the program until there are no more cockroaches being found. And then, the program should also carry a warranty period. This method also requires educating the occupants and setting realistic expectation as the whole program can be thrown completely off track if the occupant decides to use any spray of their own between treatments. This spray will taint the baits and reset everything back to square one, essentially requiring that the program be started over.
Because of this, many companies would rather not take the risk and are content with continually charging to spray for recurring problems. This repeat spraying method also carries the (incorrectly) implied stigma that if the treatment doesn’t work, then it must be the fault of something the occupant is doing or not doing.
These many disconnections between the proper methods for treatment, and the overall understanding of cockroaches in our environment is only adding to the rise and expanse of cockroaches in Calgary.