You’ve heard it many times—if you see one roach, you likely have many more. But how do you know whether you have just a few roaches or an infestation that is not likely to go away without professional intervention? Here are a few signs to look for.
Seeing is Believing
You’re more likely to see roaches at night if you have an infestation since they are nocturnal insects. If you turn on the light, they’ll scatter. Even worse, if you see a roach during the day, it is a good indication that you’ve had an infestation for quite some time and that it has grown to epic proportions that need professional services. Roaches definitely prefer to stay in dark crevices, but overcrowding and a lack of food actually drive roaches out during the day. Just because you see dead roaches, doesn’t mean your infestation is gone. In fact, it likely means that you have an ongoing infestation.
Casings and Droppings
Roaches have a very high metabolism, so they drop a considerable amount of feces. If you see tiny specs that resemble coffee grounds, it is likely feces from a roach infestation. You will likely see it first thing in the morning in sinks, on stoves and on food preparation surfaces. This means that this area of your home is a high traffic area for roach traffic and is a sure sign of a large infestation.
Roaches also produce many eggs, so if you see brown casings, this is another sure sign that they’re breeding in your home and making the infestation larger. Roaches will typically try to put the egg casings in places where pesticides have trouble reaching, creating another important reason to hire a professional. One roach can lay an egg casing that contains up to 50 eggs, so it doesn’t take long for your infestation to grow to massive proportions.
Smelling Is Believing, Too
If you smell a pungent, musty odor, this is a sure sign of an infestation. It is an oily smell that comes from large numbers of roaches congregating together, but also from dead roach decomposition. The odor can linger in the air over days and weeks.
Hire A Professional
These are four tell-tale signs that you have an infestation, and in these cases, you really only have one option—hire a professional. While these are not the only signs, they are the top indicators, and that is why you need an ally like Germantown Pest Control on your side. The faster we get there, the sooner we can begin attacking the problem, so that you can regain control over your home.