Just the sight of one of these multi-legged, hard-shelled visitors crawling across the floor is enough to make their toes curl, and their screams can reach high notes you didn’t know were possible. But what are you dealing with?

Cockroaches are a large, disgusting insect, with six legs and 18 knee joints. (We were sure you would want to know that.) There are more than 5,000 species in the world, but the most common are the German cockroach and the American cockroach.

Initially, roaches can infest your home from the outside, finding cracks, gaps under doors, and other ways to enter the home, attracted by heat, darkness, and spoiled food or standing water, in things like buckets. garbage cans, unwashed dishes. As large as they may seem, a cockroach can sneak through an opening as thin as a dime when it is young, or a quarter when it is an adult. They don’t like light, which is why many owners can’t believe it when the cat or dog presents them with the remains of their latest victim. But you can’t depend on your pets to control the population.

The first measure to get rid of cockroaches is hygiene. If you have stored rotting vegetables, open food containers in unsecured cupboards or garbage cans, remove all garbage and replace the containers with ones that will seal tightly. Check under appliances, in cupboards, in basement corners, and in other dark places for traces of black gritty dirt that has an oily appearance. This is roach feces and a sign that you have a problem.

Once your home is clean, your options for removing them are to do it yourself or have the home professionally treated by a pest control company. The one you choose may depend on the severity of the infestation. The primary means of destroying cockroaches are contact poisons / sprays and residual sprays that leave ingredients released over time in your cupboards and on surfaces where they are sprayed, which will work for a period of 2-3 weeks. There are also the infamous “roach motels” that can be placed in your closets. Sometimes a combination of several methods may be necessary, such as a substance that kills on immediate contact, and then robbing motels in places where there is evidence of previous inhabitants. Once your immediate problem is eliminated, you can also take preventative measures, such as sprinkling powdered boric acid between the walls and around the foundation where they may have entered the house. This is generally a safe product and will be carried on roaches’ feet wherever they hide and breed.

A note of caution: pesticides can be highly toxic to humans and pets. Aerosol treatments should never be done without proper respiratory protection and, first, without removing all food, pets, and dishes or other items that your food may come into contact with.