FOLSOM, Calif. —
Marguerite Storbo has lived in her Folsom home in the American River Canyon community since 2013. In her nearly 10 years living there, she had never seen a cockroach until this year.
In February, Storbo noticed one cockroach in her garage near the litter box she had under the water heater.
“I saw the cockroach and was ready to grab the flame thrower,” Storbo said. “I was completely disgusted because I had never seen a cockroach in my home before."
Storbo decided to move the litter box to a different location in her home, in hopes she would not see any more cockroaches. Sure enough, Storbo did not see another cockroach until she put the litter box back under the water heater.
“I consider us pretty lucky since we only saw one cockroach compared to other Folsom residents who are seeing loads of them in their homes,” Storbo said.
Akoni Berman, the Director of Quality Control for EcoGuard Pest Management, said last summer, they had nearly 100 reports of roach sightings in the Folsom area alone. This year, they have already received several hundred roach reports in Folsom and are expecting to see thousands in the coming months.
Berman said roaches typically appear when the weather starts to warm up and get the most active when it is much hotter in the late summer months. He said roaches do not go away in the winter but do tend to stay out of people’s way during the colder months.
According to Berman, roaches tend to be attracted to any sort of public water or moisture.
“Roaches are often found at homes that are in front of storm drains, sewer openings or irrigation boxes,” Berman said. “That's simply because roaches do prefer a warm, wet environment.”
Berman also noted roaches tend to like areas where there is a lot of material from nature, bark, or river rock as those areas make good harvests for them. He encourages residents who see one or two roaches either in the garage, inside the home, or near one of their doors not to panic.
"If you see them in your home, then they probably just slipped inside and are lost, trying to find a place to go as roaches prefer to be outside," Berman said.
According to Berman, roaches do not discriminate and can pop up in your home whether it is clean or quite messy.
Here are a few tips from Berman about how residents can prevent roaches:
- Keep up with sanitation and good housekeeping practices both inside and outside
- Store food properly and do not leave food remnants out in your home
- Keep your lawn well-kept and free of debris
- Empty garbage regularly
- Mop your floor regularly
- Ensure you do not have any sources of leaks or standing water
In the event a resident spots roaches in their home, Berman recommends:
- Leaving out sticky traps around the home
- Leaving out bait traps around the home
- Mopping the floor
- Cleaning out drains
- Removing any left out cat or dog food
- Calling a professional pest control company to help with cockroach extermination