4 Signs You're Dealing With a Cockroach Infestation
Few household pests are as unpleasant as cockroaches. Beyond their less-than-attractive appearance, cockroaches can also cause property damage, trigger allergies, and even transmit dangerous bacteria to food. That's why you'll want to act as soon as possible if you suspect cockroaches have invaded your home.
Unfortunately, they tend to stay hidden during the day, so you might never see the pest itself. Instead, you need to be on the lookout for the following four common signs of a cockroach infestation.
1. Unpleasant Smell
One of the unpleasant realities about cockroaches is that they leave faeces behind them, and those droppings produce a smell meant to attract other cockroaches. As infestations grow, that odour can also become apparent to humans. It usually smells unpleasantly musty or mildewy, and the scent will become increasingly intense the longer cockroaches are around. Such odours will usually be most strong around surfaces where cockroaches travel and near any dark and cramped areas where they might nest.
2. Droppings or Smears
In some cases, you will be able to see as well as smell a cockroach's droppings. When there is little water available for these pests, they will tend to produce small solid droppings that are a dark black or brown colour. Even less pleasantly, cockroaches with a healthy supply of water will produce wetter faecal matter that will appear as small brown smear marks. You are most likely to see these smears on horizontal surfaces.
3. Egg Cases
One of the many reasons you'll want to contact a pest control service as soon as you spot signs of a cockroach infestation is that these pests are very aggressive breeders. However, this does at least mean they leave additional signs that can alert you to their presence. Cockroaches lay groups of eggs rather than just one. These are held in brown cases known as 'oothecae'. While you may sometimes find these egg cases with eggs still inside, it's more common to find spent oothecae, especially in tight, protected areas.
4. Skins
Cockroaches shed their skins several times as they grow to full size, and the discarded skins often provide the most noticeable sign that roaches have invaded your property. These are light brown and have the distinct shape and ridges of the cockroach itself, so they are quite hard to mistake for anything else. In most cases, those skins will be shed close to where cockroaches shelter, so you're most likely to notice them close to any dark and confined areas.
If you notice a cockroach infestation, contact a service for pest inspections.
