cockroaches

When we lived in the Middle East certain people's houses were badly infested. One near us had a flood. The carpets etc. were put outside to dry in the sun. They reeked of curry as the sun dried them but worst of all were the hundreds of large roaches that FLEW out with them. Huge things that flew around looking for somewhere interesting to go!

Many years ago, my SIL and her husband lived

The things you find in a thread about cockroaches.

I was on holiday in Turkey , lying in bed one night , sleepily watching what I thought was a hole in the wall . It got bigger and bigger then I realised it was a beastie ! Then it ran and more came running out ! Huge creatures with long waggly feelers - I had to sleep upright in a steel legged chair until morning with the light on , then we asked for a new room . My friend who'd had previous experience was even shocked at the size of these things.
It cured my fear of my home spiders - I like them now !

Many years ago, my SIL and her husband lived in an old terraced house, next door to a bakery. Every time they came home after dark, she`d wait outside whilst her hubby went in and did his best to kill the cockroaches that would be congregated on her cupboard doors. I couldn`t have lived there. I`ve only ever seen one live one, on the bathroom wall in our hotel in Cyprus, a good few years ago, and did I scream!

Ooh, those stories give me the heebie jeebies especially the last one by Penstemmon about being covered by roaches as she slept. Obviously pays to keep your mouth closed when sleeping!
Clearly they are very successful critters!

As a child in East Africa we went for a holiday. We travelled on the boat used in African Queen (the German Boat) across L Victoria. My mum woke in the noght and wondered where the basin had gone..it was black with roaches..as were my bro &I sleeping top to tail on the bottom bunk!!

Cazzajen if you live in a block of council flats - no matter that they are new - you should report your little visitor to environmental health cos you can bet your bottom dollar that one of your flat dwelling neighbours has its relatives living with them ?

We were in a restaurant in London once and a cockroach crawled up the tablecloth and strolled across the table...we didn't stay long after that !!!!!!

I think cockroaches are quite amazing, they have been around for hundreds of millions of years. They have won the war against them.

If you see a cockroach, know that there are more. That's why when I lived in Sydney and I found out about Borax I was soo happy. I hate cockroaches, they are vile. The cockroaches get the Borax powder on their legs and take it back to the nest where it kills the rest of them.

I was visiting my DS, DIL and GSs in a suburb of Brisbane. It was about the first night I was there and I am not sure what happened but a cockroach hit the fan (I heard it) and landed on me while I was in bed, it was a horrible experience. I found out DS had drilled a hole in the floor boards to run a cable through and hadn't sealed it. DS put a seal on the back door, I sprinkled Borax every where and DD sealed up any little gap along the skirting boards and anywhere else in the house where cockroaches could hide. It did make a difference and since then DS, DIL and GSs have moved very close to the city and don't even have screens on the windows. When I visited them recently were no cockroaches.

Fairydoll we did have fun in the tropics didn't we we went to put my ex crash helmet on one day to find a snake curled round and round inside it the cockroaches were huge weren't they I m sure they were the size of a mouse nearly

Modern hospitals have cockroaches as well as old. I don't think there's any hospitals without cockroaches. I must admit they don't freak me as much as mice or rats which are also in hospitals.

Possibly off topic but I've just been freaked out by finding a toad in my garage. Managed to steer him out courtesy of a hoe. But God he was stupid. Pretending to be dead rather than move. Not sure which one of us was more scared!

BlueBell. Ha ha - Memories of cockroaches! I too remember the monsters in Singapore! They grow them big in the tropics...

Before Singapore, I lived in Cyprus. Imprinted on my memory is one very hot night ( no aircon in those days) when I took a glass of orange squash to bed with me and stupidly left it on the floor next to the bed. Waking in the night with a raging thirst I leant over in the dark and lifted the glass to my lips. They touched something rather solid! Shrieking, I leapt out of bed and flicked on the light only to see a very large cockroach which had evidently suffered death by drowning in orange squash! I've never forgotten that experience.

Yes Candelle, now you mention it I remember that smell. YYUUK..

I was 20 and moved out to Malaysia on the way the plane broke down and I was put up for a number of days in Changi Singapore they didn't have as many planes in those days so we had to wait for parts on my first night alone in this room I suddenly saw something huge moving across the room never having been out of uk I d never seen a cockroach before and had no idea what this monster was I was so frightened I grabbed a waste paper basket and threw it over this awful monster shaking like a leaf suddenly I saw the waste paper basket moving across the room I ran out screaming to the laughter of someone who knew exactly what it was ...... it didn't take me long to realise that I was going to be sharing my life with these things ...if I got up to the loo at night I would crunch my way through the room it still makes me shudder to think of them

Marmight you smothering a cockroach with your knickers and then hurling them out of the window must have been a sight to behold

Forgot to say we live in 3rd floor new build council flat.

No takeaway, and I never leave food out of the fridge. I live in Surrey, UK. I was totally freaked out by it! Yuk!

We had lots of them in the cellars at school where we kept our trunks in term time. I hated going down there to fetch mine at the end of term. (also had rats ?Yuk)
DD in Oz has cockroach bates scattered liberally around the place, mostly kitchen and bathrooms. I was lying in bed one night watching a wildlife programme when I realised the thing moving across the screen wasn't on film. I leapt out of bed grabbed the first thing - my knickers - smothered an enormous roach with them and threw the lot out of the window. I had to creep out early in the morning to retrieve them, minus cockroach, from the 'nature strip'

In my teens I worked as a Waitress & lived in. There were cockroaches in the kitchen at night - difficult to eradicate in catering premises - our kitchens were spotless

Worst thing was one night I was in another Waitress's bedroom, sitting on her bed & one appeared on my dressing gown, at first we thought it was a button!!!!!

Never had one in the house, mice (live) brought in by my cat & in one house I used to get slugs in the kitchen (salt at the ready) YUK

Living in Malta, cockroaches are a fairly common occurrence. I don't like them but am not afraid of whacking them with a shoe or the broom. The worst thing you can do is spray them with insecticide because they will then run under the furniture somewhere to die.

Oh cazzajen I share your revulsion and I sympathise. Cockroaches totally freak me out whereas I am fine with any (British) spiders and others insects. Luckily I have only ever seen cockroaches abroad. Are you 100% sure that it was a cockroach? There are some British beetles that are large, so maybe one of those wandered in? (Otherwise I say kill, kill, kill! Do seek extermination advice. I've been told that there is never just one cockroach....)

Saw loads in gran canaria when on holiday they do say if world ends they would survive they are horrible things craftycat do you mean they would be in packaging? Hope you don't get anymore cazz?

You really shouldn't worry about a single cockroach, it's when you find a married couple the trouble really starts.