Cockroaches prefer to live and feed in the dark and they are nocturnal, so a cockroach seen during the day is a possible sign of infestation. Cockroaches tend to prefer dark, moist places to hide and breed and can be found behind refrigerators, sinks and stoves, as well as under floor drains and inside of motors and major appliances. Because they can flatten their bodies to fit into narrow areas, cockroaches may also be found hiding beneath rubber mats, behind wallpaper and within wall cracks.
Winning the war against these nasty invaders is determined by how early their infestation is detected. The longer you let them have their way the harder and more expensive it will be to get rid of them. To get them as soon as possible:
Watch out for Fecal droppings
When you find their feces, it is a sure sign you’ve got a problem. Smaller roaches will leave behind droppings that are similar in size and appearance to ground coffee or black pepper. Larger roaches will leave larger droppings. The more fecal droppings you find, the higher the number of roaches you are dealing with. Areas in your home with lots of feces are clear indicators of high traffic areas for roaches. They come through that area often to scavenge for food and water. Take note of these areas as they are critical areas to target when you try kill them off.
Watch out for Egg casings
Roaches produce egg casings, which actually holds multiple eggs inside it. These casings are called oothecae. Whether you find the unhatched eggs, or just the casings left behind, you can be certain that finding even one means you have roaches. Of the 3 out of 4 common roaches in the US, each ootheca can hold between 10-20 eggs inside. The German cockroach ootheca can hold 50 eggs inside. You can identify them visually from their long, rounded shape and their brownish color. Some roaches’ species will carry their eggs with them until they hatch. While others will leave them hidden in a safe place.
Watch out for their odor
While a single cockroach may appear to give off little to no odor, a large number of them combined will definitely get your attention. Once you are able to smell roaches, you already have a huge infestation. What does cockroach smell like? Most experts and victims agree that the smell can be described as oily and musky.
Watch out for the dead ones
Cockroaches are nocturnal as said before, so seeing them during the day may be a rare sighting (unless you have a serious problem, but you can read more about that later). To catch them during the night, when they are most active, you need to use cockroach traps. But the dead ones can no longer run and hide during the day, so you’ll see dead roaches if you have a large number of them. Check out the common areas they could hide, so it isn’t uncommon to find a few dead ones around them.
When you see them during the day.
The biggest sign that you have a very serious cockroach infestation is seeing them run around during the day. They typically only come out to scavenge for food and water during the night when you are usually asleep. They only come out when their numbers are so great that some of them gets pushed out from their nests.
The sooner you detect them and take steps to kill them, the better and cheaper it will be. Start treatment upon first detection of any of these signs. Don’t wait until it’s already too late that even a professional exterminator may not be able to kill all of them in just a couple of expensive visits. It’s imperative that you keep an eye out for these signs of a cockroach infestation.
