Cockroaches Can Invade Any Home: How to Get Rid of Them and Keep Them Out

Everyone's heard the joke. In the event of a nuclear war the only two things left alive would be cockroaches and Keith Richards. While the radiation withstanding abilities of the Rolling Stone's lead singer are a little doubtful, the cockroach is an amazingly resilient insect. Studies show that the little beasties really are more radiation proof than humans. So, what does this mean for your extermination efforts? How can you get these pests out of your home and keep them from coming back? There are several ways.

There are almost 4,000 species of cockroach in the world, but, of these, only a handful are actually considered pests. The most familiar species are the American cockroach, the Asian cockroach, the German cockroach and the Oriental cockroach. All of these species are relatively small, not usually measuring over 1 ½ centimeters. There are species which grow much larger, like the Australian burrowing cockroach; these critters can attain 80mm and 30 grams in weight. Creepy, huh? That's over 3 inches long, and over an ounce in weight. Prehistoric cockroaches were immense, thankfully they are all extinct now; could you imagine battling a foot long cockroach?

The household pests are nowhere near that stature, but that doesn't mean they can't impact peoples' lives in a big way. A study in '05 showed that the presence of cockroaches in a home was one of the primary triggers for asthma attacks. The same study showed that only 10% of the US population knew that cockroaches could affect their family's health in any way.

Cockroaches cause problems other than health concerns as well. Many species like to dine on wood, much the way a termite colony does. These rarely infest buildings, preferring to remain in the wild, munching on dead trees and other detritus, but they have been known to enter buildings. Cockroaches also spread disease through their droppings, which they leave in trails behind them. Cockroaches also breed at an astounding rate; a female needs to mate only once in her year long life to lay over a million eggs.