San Jose, CA residents see all sorts of pests, year-round. Most of these pests are completely harmless, though annoying to deal with. However, if you plan on living in California during any month of the year, there’s one pest you absolutely must watch out for: German cockroaches.
Most people know how gross cockroaches are. They look dirty, smell funky, and pop out at the worst times. However, cockroaches, especially German cockroaches, also pose serious threats to your well-being. Let’s go over how to identify these pests and the havoc they can wreak in your San Jose home.
Cockroach Identification Guide For San Jose, CA
The German cockroach has six legs, body-length antennae, and a flat, oval-shaped body. These roaches are the most common of any roaches in the United States and account for thousands of infestations every year. German cockroaches only grow around half an inch long and are tan-to-brown in color. Additionally, these roaches have two black stripes on their heads.
Although German cockroaches have wings, they rarely fly. These pests cannot remain airborne for long, however, and if they do fly, it will only be for a few seconds. Rather, these nocturnal pests scuttle from place to place at night, which is why you often don’t see them until dusk or dawn.
While other cockroaches exist in California, German cockroaches are the pest to worry about the most. German cockroaches can wreak havoc on your health and psychological well-being. And they can be extremely difficult to remove.
Problems Caused By German Cockroaches
German cockroaches vector a variety of serious pathogens. This is in part because these pests hang out in dirty places. Dumpsters, sewers, and alleyways are all common spaces for German roaches, and although these insects exist naturally in the wild, they congregate anywhere that they can consume organic matter – especially if it’s waste.
As a result, these pests can bring a serious assortment of disease-causing organisms into your home. Common diseases that German cockroaches can spread include salmonella, cholera, dysentery, listeria, giardia, typhoid, and the plague.
Additionally, German cockroaches can make your allergies or asthma worse. Roaches release proteins that some people are sensitive to, especially people with breathing problems. Long term exposure to these proteins can result in respiratory illness, and these problems can persist long after the infestation is over. Controlling a cockroach problem is paramount.
German Cockroach-Prevention Tips
- Reduce indoor clutter. These pests can survive off of anything, rely on very little, and prefer to hide in cluttered, dark spaces. So homes with a lot of clutter are more likely to have a roach problem.
- Reduce outdoor clutter as well. Regularly maintain your lawn, clean up foliage, and keep your plants trimmed. Overgrowth invites all sorts of pests, especially cockroaches.
- Seal any cracks in your windows, door frames, or home exterior.
- Keep trash indoors. These pests often come into your home because there’s enough trash, compost, or food for them to feast on outside the home. These foragers then move inside when they find your property, so secure your trash, as well as your pantry.
- Reduce the humidity. Cockroaches prefer warm, damp spaces that they can hide out in during the day. This includes crawl spaces, basements, bathrooms, and the kitchen. Check the humidity in these spaces, and respond accordingly.
- Check all bags and packages you receive. Some cockroaches like to hitchhike, meaning you can pick one up in your bag, or some stray roaches can scuttle around a package and get in your house surreptitiously.
Did cockroaches get in your San Jose household? Don’t waste another second trying to get rid of them – contact San Jose’s best pest professionals today at Bay Pest Solutions.