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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / November 2004Roach Motel
Tweed wrote: >> they had locked the place up so nobody could leave, kind of >> like the Roach Motel. > > I've no idea what the Roach Motel is, but the nightmare sure > sounds scary. Oops, another cultural gap. The Roach Motel is a trap for cockroaches that lures them inside, where they die of starvation. The advertising motto was "Roaches check in, but they *can't check out*". Just trying for a bit of levity. Joyce > Tweed wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > that lures them inside, where they die of starvation. The advertising > motto was "Roaches check in, but they *can't check out*" I'm not sure that I like the idea of cockroaches dying of starvation. It would be kinder to squash them so that they died immediately. . Tweed who likes insects >> Tweed wrote: >> [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > Tweed > who likes insects The idea though is that you put this box thing under your sink and they crawl in where they are stuck and you never see them. I'm pretty sure it uses a faster kill method than starvation. Cause I'm pretty sure a roach can live a darn long time without food or water. Made for clever advertising since cheap, tacky motels were already being referred to as roach motels by the general public. Jo >>> Tweed wrote: >>> [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > crawl in where they are stuck and you never see them. I'm pretty sure it > uses a faster kill method than starvation. Hmmm. They crawl in where they are stuck and you never see them. So what happens to them? > Cause I'm pretty sure a roach can live a darn long time without food or > water. Maybe it can. I don't know much about cockroaches, I'm lucky, I never had them. Because I'm a bit of a softie, I prefer not to kill insects unless I have to. I might seek out the roaches and rescue them. Yes, I know!! Very silly. I'm just so stupid. Like my American"friend" says. I'm a stupid liberal. Tweed vertising since cheap, tacky motels were already being > referred to as roach motels by the general public. > > Jo > Hmmm. They crawl in where they are stuck and you never see them. So what > happens to them? In theory at that point you put the box out with the garbage. Never actually have used them as we live in a fortunate climate. But the TV advertising is a bit of a cultural icon. If you have never had the experience of turning on the kitchen light in the middle of the night only to have a dozen of the horrid things run for dark cover you are most lucky. I quite like most insects if they will stick to their habitat and stay out of mine. I like spiders too. Mom taught us that if you don't kill spiders they will keep your house free of things like roaches. There are exceptions depending on how big and scary the spider is and where it chooses to set up housekeeping. Jo > > Hmmm. They crawl in where they are stuck and you never see them. So what > > happens to them? [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > middle of the night only to have a dozen of the horrid things run for dark > cover you are most lucky. London is the only place I've ever lived where I've had to share my living quarters with cockroaches. I remember that all food had to be in sealed containers, and the cupboards had to be cleaned almost weekly. Yuck. We were lucky, our cats loved to hunt them, and every morning we'd come into the kitchen to find a couple of dozen big ones dead or dying on the floor. I think the cats killed them or immobilised them by breaking their 'backs', and I'd squish them to finish the job off. Normally I hate killing insects too, but these buggers were very unhygienic. Jeanette > > Hmmm. They crawl in where they are stuck and you never see them. So > > what [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > Jo My house has been roach-free for a couple of years since I started using Combat brand baits. I believe they combine interfering with the reproductive cycle as well as actual poisoning. > I don't know much about cockroaches, I'm lucky, I never had >them. Because I'm a bit of a softie, I prefer not to kill insects unless I [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >Tweed Roaches are seriously Not Nice, Tweed. They can be the vectors for transmissin of some nasty illnesses, including polio. Having suffered the nightmare of holidaying in a place which was infested with both fleas & roaches, believe me, once you've had them crawling around & over you, you really don't feel soft towards them again ;-) Their bites are not nice to have... Cheers, helen s --This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get correct one remove fame & fortune h*$el*$$e*nd**$o$ts**i*$*$m*m$o*n*s@$*a$o*l.c**$om$ --Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off-- Here in Texas the roaches are big enough to be roped and branded - and they *FLY*!!! (Back me up on this Victor, Bonbon - I'm not exaggerating!!) Stepping on the doesn't necessarily kill them. I just stepped on one the other day then went to get some TP to pick it up and flush it. When I got back the roach was gone. I kid you not, they are so big here even the cats are scared of them!!! Hugs, CatNipped > >>> Tweed wrote: > >>> [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > > > > Jo > Here in Texas the roaches are big enough to be roped and branded - and > they > *FLY*!!! (Back me up on this Victor, Bonbon - I'm not exaggerating!!) Nope, not exaggerating at all. Not only are the roaches huge, we have mosquitoes that buzz around like small helicopters. We have a pest control guy come around quarterly, so we don't see a lot of roaches and most of the roaches we see are dead or dying. Very gross, but if we did not take precautions, we would be overrun. Annie > Here in Texas the roaches are big enough to be roped and branded - > and they *FLY*!!! (Back me up on this Victor, Bonbon - I'm not [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Hugs, CatNipped They do the same thing here and down in South Carolina where my parents live. In SC and places further south they call them "Palmetto bugs". I call them just plain gross. They live in trees but love coming inside. Yeah, they fly. They get as big as small dogs (okay, I'm exaggerating) and stepping on them doesn't do the trick. They are just nasty, vile creatures. Jill >>>>> Tweed wrote: >>>>> [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] >>> >>> Jo >> Here in Texas the roaches are big enough to be roped and branded - >> and they *FLY*!!! (Back me up on this Victor, Bonbon - I'm not [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > >Jill Yup, you gotta strangle 'em. ;) Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com > Here in Texas the roaches are big enough to be roped and branded - and they > *FLY*!!! (Back me up on this Victor, Bonbon - I'm not exaggerating!!) [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > CatNipped I can vouch for this! Bob > Hmmm. They crawl in where they are stuck and you never see them. So what > happens to them? > > > Cause I'm pretty sure a roach can live a darn long time without food or > > water. Those things can survive for days /without heads/. Creepy eh? They run around headless until they starve because they can't eat without a head....but it doesn't stop them from moving around. --Fil >Those things can survive for days /without heads/. Creepy eh? They >run around headless until they starve because they can't eat without a >head....but it doesn't stop them from moving around. > >--Fil Ugh. That's a piece of trivia I somehow never learned. I did hear once that in the event of a nuclear holocaust, roaches would be unaffected. I don't know if there's any truth to that, but it about figures. The only bugs I ever kill are roaches, ticks and fleas. >> Hmmm. They crawl in where they are stuck and you never see them. So what >> happens to them? [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >--Fil The first big test of my independent adult life was a monster cockroach in my kitchen. I sprayed it until it retired behind the fridge, and came back awhile later, doing the death scene from "Camille." The second big test was picking up the dead bug, and getting it out of there. ;) Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com >>> Hmmm. They crawl in where they are stuck and you never see them. So >>> what [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Theresa I've never seen a cockroach in my entire life. I didn't realise they were so huge and scary. ~Why do they seem to be all over in America and not in Britain? Is it the higher temperature where they are? Or what? Tweed Pretty nippy here, Snow on the ground for 3 days, just gone because it's raining. > I've never seen a cockroach in my entire life. I didn't realise they were > so huge and scary. Why do they seem to be all over in America and not in > Britain? Is it the higher temperature where they are? Or what? That's puzzling. I thought roaches liked moist climates. They seem to thrive in hot, humid areas like the southern/eastern USA, or actually, all over the East Coast. But since I moved to California, I haven't seen any roaches at all. It's much more arid here, which makes me think they don't like dry climates. That certainly doesn't explain why you don't see them in the UK! (Though I thought someone else from the UK posted to say she'd had plenty in her life.) Joyce >>>> Hmmm. They crawl in where they are stuck and you never see them. So >>>> what [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] >so huge and scary. ~Why do they seem to be all over in America and not in >Britain? Is it the higher temperature where they are? Or what? They're everywhere. They're in Britain, too; for some reason they may stay more where they belong there, and not bother with your kitchen. They come in different sizes too- not every one you see is the huge version. I also understand the ones in Asia are bigger than our bigguns. Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com > I've never seen a cockroach in my entire life. I didn't realise they were > so huge and scary. ~Why do they seem to be all over in America and not in > Britain? Is it the higher temperature where they are? Or what? > > Tweed When I was growing up in Oregon (Northwestern U.S.A.), I had never seen a cockroach. When I was 14 my parents moved to Southern California, and I saw a few. After I was married, the Army moved us to Texas. Our landlady was very big on roach bait to kill them, so we did not have a big problem, but I did see one once in a while. The worse was Alabama and Georgia (Southeastern U.S.A.). We had to keep flour and such in the freezer or refrigerator. Other things such as crackers, cereal had to be in air-tight plastic containers. Nothing could be left out on counters or in paper bags or cardboard boxes. Oh, yes, there was the infestation we had after Jim and I moved back to Southern California. By that time we had a three-year-old daughter. I could not figure out where all those roaches were coming from. I cleaned and scrubbed and kept everything tight (I thought). It was only after I needed to sew something and opened the sewing machine that I found the egg cases. It turns out that our little daughter had been putting dry dog food in the sewing machine for her imaginary pig and rabbit friends. Annie >> I've never seen a cockroach in my entire life. I didn't realise they >> were so huge and scary. ~Why do they seem to be all over in America and [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > rabbit friends. > Annie Are they absolutely everywhere in your houses in the USA? Eewww. How terrible. Like I said, I've never seen one and hope not to. What makes them come into your house, where do they come from? Tweed >Are they absolutely everywhere in your houses in the USA? Eewww. How >terrible. Like I said, I've never seen one and hope not to. What makes them >come into your house, where do they come from? > >Tweed Oh, no, not at all. I've never seen a cockroach inside the house except for one rental we lived in. They are worse in areas of heat and humidity and I believe in urban areas. If your neighbor calls an exterminator....they come next door to *your* house. You can carry them home from the grocery store in a bag of potatoes. It's not that different from a flea infestation. They multiply so rapidly before you know it they are everywhere. Sherry >>Are they absolutely everywhere in your houses in the USA? Eewww. >>How terrible. Like I said, I've never seen one and hope not to. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >you know it they are everywhere. >Sherry When I bought my house in 1992, it had stood empty for a couple of years. I had a roach problem in the kitchen, and had to put out poison bait. Once that batch of roaches had been poisoned, I have sometimes gone as much as two years without seeing any roaches in the house (I occasionally see them outdoors). If I do see any, I buy baits and put them in places where my cat can't go, in hopes that the baits won't become cat toys.  SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria >Are they absolutely everywhere in your houses in the USA? Eewww. How >terrible. Like I said, I've never seen one and hope not to. What makes them >come into your house, where do they come from? Depends on what part of the country. If you are somewhere that is both hot and humid (Florida, Texas, any state that fronts the Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii) the answer is yes. They are everywhere in the house. Mostly in the kitchen and bathroom, though, since what they come in for is water. There are other parts of the country, the northern part of the south, the southern midwest, New York, etc. where you will get them if you are not perfectly (and I mean _perfectly_ clean). The true monsters are found in the Gulf States and are commonly called "water bugs" or "palmetto bugs" or "tree roaches" or (my favorite) "EEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!!! KILL IT! KILL IT! AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!". They are truly vile. I've seen them up to 5 inches long in Houston. They fly. They don't just fly, they fly AT you. And their wings make this nasty papery whirring noise that is unmistakeable and will get your attention faster than the sound of your cat horking a hairball on the bed at three AM. I grew up in South Carolina with the smaller, tamer roaches (what they called German Roaches). One got those in the kitchen if one wasn't tremendously careful about cleaning up messes, etc. They are smaller and do not seem to fly. They get in the cupboards and crap on the dishes and leave egg cases in the back of the drawers. Nasty. But not really the nightmare-inducing horrors of Florida and Houston. You get both kinds of roaches in Houston, by the way - most people have an exterminator that comes every so often and poisons the house. I moved to Wisconsin a couple of years ago, and it's heaven. The cold climate takes care of ever so many disgusting pests. No roaches. No fire ants. Minimal fleas and hornets. Heaven, if you can take the cold... >There are other parts of the country, the northern part >of the south, the southern midwest, New York, etc. where you will get >them if you are not perfectly (and I mean _perfectly_ clean). I think that's kind of a myth. Roaches can survive on *crumbs* -- once an exterminator told me they can survive on paint chips as long as they've got water. Even the best housekeeper can find themselves with roaches in their homes, especially in urban areas & apartments, because they migrate when your neighbors spray. Sherry Sherry >>There are other parts of the country, the northern part >>of the south, the southern midwest, New York, etc. where you will get [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >Sherry When I lived in Florida, I have roaches (Palmetto bugs) that actually ate *paper*! I got rid of them by leaving out a couple of wine bottles, with a tad bit of wine in the bottom, and corks off. Now, the lizard in my closet was a different matter . . . . Ginger-lyn >>>There are other parts of the country, the northern part >>>of the south, the southern midwest, New York, etc. where you will get [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > >Ginger-lyn Ah, in Florida, a lizard in your house is standard equipment. ;) Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com > When I lived in Florida, I have roaches (Palmetto bugs) that actually > ate *paper*! I got rid of them by leaving out a couple of wine > bottles, with a tad bit of wine in the bottom, and corks off. How did that get rid of roaches? I could understand it attracting a few unfortunate ones that would get trapped in the bottle, but this actually got rid of all of them? Joyce > > When I lived in Florida, I have roaches (Palmetto bugs) that actually > > ate *paper*! I got rid of them by leaving out a couple of wine [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > >Joyce They climbed in, couldn't get back out, got drunk and drowned (for the most part). And yep, got rid of all of them, believe it or not. Maybe I just had wino Palmetto bugs? Ginger-lyn > Are they absolutely everywhere in your houses in the USA? Eewww. How > terrible. Like I said, I've never seen one and hope not to. What makes > them come into your house, where do they come from? > > Tweed No, absolutely not everywhere. As I said, when I lived in the Northwest part of the U.S. I had never seen one. Many years later, when we moved back to that area, we did not have them. I believe they prefer warm climates. I suspect that the Northwest here is similar to England. In areas where they live, they come into the house to find food. Believe me, we do not all live in roach infested houses, but in some areas, we do need to take precautions. The U.S. is like one country, but nearly an entire continent in size. Some states are as large or larger than European countries. Therefore, the climates and land vary greatly. Annie > ...could not figure out where all those roaches were coming from... > It was only after I needed to sew something and opened the sewing machine > that I found the egg cases. It turns out that our little daughter had been > putting dry dog food in the sewing machine for her imaginary pig and rabbit > friends. Was the machine operational after that? Joyce > Was the machine operational after that? > Joyce Yes, and a lot cleaner after I got through with it. Annie >I've never seen a cockroach in my entire life. I didn't realise they were >so huge and scary. ~Why do they seem to be all over in America and not in >Britain? Is it the higher temperature where they are? Or what? Certainly in my days working in a very old hospital building, the cockroach exterminator was a regular visitor. SignatureCathi >I've never seen a cockroach in my entire life. I didn't realise they were >so huge and scary. ~Why do they seem to be all over in America and not in [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >Pretty nippy here, Snow on the ground for 3 days, just gone because it's >raining. They are remarkably common in Britain - especially in the likes of Ye Greasy Spoon Caffs where cleanliness is not of the highest importance. Also can get in homes - once in they can be remarkably difficult to get rid of. Years ago, as a teenager, I had a Saturday job in the local supermarket where I lived. On the other side of the main street was an old cinema which was in the process of being demolished. During the demolition work, the cockraoches from the old disused place came across to the supermarket via the drains... As I was serving a customer with veggies, I noticed a roach starting to crawl across the counter top... wanting to spare the customer (and me and the entire shop) from screams... I put my hand over the roach and kept it there for the seeming endless hours the customer was talking to me. In reality it would be seconds, but *any* time with a roach under your hand feels like hours ;-) When I did my food hygiene certificate, about five years ago, the environmental health person who ran the course came out with some colourful stories of roach infestations in homes and restaurants... Cheers, helen s --This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get correct one remove fame & fortune h*$el*$$e*nd**$o$ts**i*$*$m*m$o*n*s@$*a$o*l.c**$om$ --Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off-- > I put my hand over the roach and kept it there for the seeming > endless hours the customer was talking to me. In reality it would be seconds, > but *any* time with a roach under your hand feels like hours ;-) <awe> My goodness, you are a brave woman, Helen. SignatureMarina, Frank and Nikki marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/ and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki ><awe> My goodness, you are a brave woman, Helen. Thank you, but the word I would have used is *stupid* ;-) Cheers, helen s --This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get correct one remove fame & fortune h*$el*$$e*nd**$o$ts**i*$*$m*m$o*n*s@$*a$o*l.c**$om$ --Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off-- >><awe> My goodness, you are a brave woman, Helen. > > Thank you, but the word I would have used is *stupid* ;-) You said that, not me. ;o) ;o) ;o) SignatureMarina, Frank and Nikki marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/ and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki >You said that, not me. ;o) ;o) ;o) Indeed, I is allowed ;-) Cheers, helen s --This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get correct one remove fame & fortune h*$el*$$e*nd**$o$ts**i*$*$m*m$o*n*s@$*a$o*l.c**$om$ --Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off-- > I've never seen a cockroach in my entire life. I didn't realise they > were so huge and scary. ~Why do they seem to be all over in America > and not in Britain? Is it the higher temperature where they are? Or > what? > > Tweed I've seen thousands of cockroaches in England, I don't think I'll tell you where, you might find it quite disturbing. SignatureAdrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera) A house is not a home, without a cat. >> I've never seen a cockroach in my entire life. I didn't realise they >> were so huge and scary. ~Why do they seem to be all over in America [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > I've seen thousands of cockroaches in England, I don't think I'll tell > you where, you might find it quite disturbing. Oh, go on, go on, go on. Tell me where. Tweed >>> I've never seen a cockroach in my entire life. I didn't realise >>> they were so huge and scary. ~Why do they seem to be all over in [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Tweed In the kitchens of 3 different large hospitals. I've even seen them walking over food that was going to be served to patients. This was over 20 years ago so hopefully things have improved, but I wouldn't be that surprised if I saw it again. SignatureAdrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera) A house is not a home, without a cat. > >> I've seen thousands of cockroaches in England, I don't think I'll > >> tell you where, you might find it quite disturbing. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > 20 years ago so hopefully things have improved, but I wouldn't be that > surprised if I saw it again. That is the second grossest thing ever (I once saw maggots in chocolate cake being served in the mess hall in the military, which still remains as the grossest.). --Fil >> >> I've seen thousands of cockroaches in England, I don't think I'll >> >> tell you where, you might find it quite disturbing. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >chocolate cake being served in the mess hall in the military, which >still remains as the grossest.). Now, if they had put them in rice pudding, nobody would have known. :P Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com "Jo Firey" <JAfirey@NETZERO.NET> had some very interesting things to say about Re: Roach Motel: >Made for clever advertising since cheap, tacky motels were already being >referred to as roach motels by the general public. According to DH, those catering trucks [fast-food type stuff] that show up at construction sites and such are affectionately known to their patrons as "roach coaches". :-) Signature"The universe is quite robust in design and appears to be doing just fine on its own, incompetent support staff notwithstanding. :-)" - the Dennis formerly known as (evil), MCFL > > Tweed wrote: > > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > Tweed > who likes insects I don't know if the program Saturday Night Live ever made it over to Britain, but years ago when it used to actually be worth watching they did a spoof of the advertisement for the Roach Motel that was hilarious if you don't care for roaches. Without going into details, in the spoof the advertisement boasts that its roach trap doesn't just leave the roaches in the trap to die on their own. There was an animated demonstration of various automated measures the trap took to bring about their demise. >I don't know if the program Saturday Night Live ever made it over to >Britain, but years ago when it used to actually be worth watching they >did a spoof of the advertisement for the Roach Motel that was >hilarious if you don't care for roaches. That sounds good. I haven't watched SNL, but I have seen some of their commercials, and I've liked them. One of my favorites was Schmitt's Gay (instead of "Dry"), a beer commercial featuring Chris Farley and Adam Sandler frolicking with a bunch of buff guys in a swimming pool. Also, I liked Uncle Jemima's Mash Liquor, a "Song of the South" type production with Uncle Jemima batting away little Disneyesque cartoon birds flying around his head (because he's hallucinating from drinking too much). |
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