HELP GOKIBURI (Cockroach problem)

[Yorkshire Boy]

My flat has cockroaches!!

What a hideous bummer!!!

I'm using sticky traps which are catching them.

I've had 5 adults and 3 babies.

I think I know where they are coming from.
From the back of the toilet, where the pipe goes into the wall.
It needs boarding up properly.

I feel dirty.
My lass is Japanese, I feel bad about her coming over.

I chuck out all the rubbish.
Try to keep the place clean. Don't leave out any food.

I got home tonight, cracked open a beer and turned on the computer.
I looked up and saw a big roach on the wall, high above me, where my loft is.
I picked up my fishing net and trapped it.
I moved the net and it jumped onto my leg!!!!!!!!!!!
Then it ran across the floor and into my knife sharpening box.
It was trapped. so I took it outside and let it go.
I didn't want to stand on it because I heard you can spread the eggs like that.
(they stick to your shoe).

I know where one cockroach is there will be another 100 at least.

What should I do?

Should I keep battling?

Or get my company to move me?

Interestingly, on Wednesday I came home from work to find a spider on my wall.
Bigger than any spider in Britain.
It was huge. :eek
It looked like something from a zoo!
I took a picture of it.
I'll be honest, I thought it could be poisonous!!!
I got a glass and trapped it, then used a piece of card as a block.
I took it outside and released it.
I have to say I found it scary (I'm not scared of UK spiders, I use my hand to get rid).

I think the spider came in when I left the window open. I used a smoke bomb on Monday
to get rid of the cockroaches. I opened the window and went fishing. (caught some nice carp from the river on bread) When I got back it was dark.
There are some grates next to my window, maybe it came from there?
I don't mind the spiders if they eat the roaches.
It was big though!!!

Any help or advice would be greatly taken, thank you.

 

[jerv]

get something called combato it's written in katakana if you can read that.
they eat the poison and wander back into the nest and die. Their roach friends eat them then they all die...hooray! Combato really does work. There are sprays you can buy for the odd one who wanders in off the street. I hacked one in two with an axe and the front half still tried to run off.
The bigger blacker roaches live outside mostly, the red ones have set up their nest in your (or your neighbours house) I think they are different species.
Don;t worry about roaches too much as they live absolutley everywhere on honshu. If you are in a ground floor flat then you WILL get roaches. Japanese (especially girls) will totally flip out and scream and overreact but they are used to seeing themand will not thinkless of you for having roaches in your house. It is not because you are dirty and don't stand for it if anyone tells you that is the case.

The roaches usually disappear in october or so. If you think the roaches are annoying wait until the cicadas (semi) are out

p.s. you might want to get used to horrid bugs if you are going to travel anywhere else in asia. I have stories that have silenced restaurants.

 

[Yorkshire Boy]

Thanks Jerv,

they're bloody horrible though!!!

I did chop one that was still alive in the sticky trap.
They do have an amazing capacity to want to survive!

I'm not on the ground floor, 2nd for us, 1st for Japanese????

Anyway, the spider was scary!!!!!!

My students have told me that to have cockroachs is unusual, to have big spiders is very unusual and to see Tanuki is very rare.

I must be doing very well indeed!

Maybe you can also understand the time difference problems I'm having, it's 2.45 am here.

All the best, mind the (bed) BUGS don't bite!

 

[Matthew.Passmore]

can we see the picture of the spider, im curious how big it was

 

[JonnyP]

Get some expanding foam to seal up the hole round the toilet.....

 

[jerv]

hi john
those big spiders do eat cockroaches they really are quite rare. My totally arachnaphobe friend lived with one because they eat the roaches up.
To have cockroaches is not unusual at all. Admitting to it might be. I certainly don't want to sound like some jaded ex-pat but sometimes your students might not always be too forthcoming with what we might call "the truth".
Niall

 

[lofthouse31]

does anybody have a recipe for cockroach or are they useless.
is it true they can survive a nuclear attack or is that just a myth.
my cure for pesky insects is a shoe

 

[Yorkshire Boy]

Hi fellas, I'll sort out my pictures at some point and once I figure out how,
I'll put them up for people to see.

I got a bunch of extra fishing gear today. A large net, hooks, leader etc...
I'm going after those big carp I've seen.
Going to use bread again, although if I can find any big dog biscuits I'll use those as well.

Thanks for everything.

JC.

 

[Moschops]

is it true they can survive a nuclear attack or is that just a myth.

Many insect species are very resistant to radiation. Spiders are known to build webs inside nuclear plant cores (much to the distress of the engineers who have to clean them off with robot arms)

Scorpions are another with amazing survival attributes (heat/ cold and radiation)

Insects have a chitin skeleton which can offer protection from the worst the world can throw at them.

The stories about roaches is more to do with there ability to burrow (protecting them from the worst of the blast).
They will eat almost anything and so food is not a problem and they can quickly invade an area that has been cleared of predators.
I think a blast should do this...

They are tough buggers though.
And having lived with them i do really like the idea of a poison they take home with them.
D.