Things that move in the night..

Up until now my dealings with cockroaches have thankfully been minimal - some of my friends sound like they have been continuously fighting a turf war against cockroaches in their homes. My own personal dealings with the horrible brown creatures had up until today totaled 3, each on separate, well space out, occasions. I found them all in the middle of my floor, on their backs when I woke up in the morning. This  leaves me thinking, what kind of stupid creature ends up on its back (it can't right itself) for no apparent reason...

My go to method for cockroach dispatch is with the 3kg washing detergent bottle - one blow works a treat!

Sadly though tonight's cockroach experience was more traumatic than ever before. For some reason I couldn't sleep ( now I'm very awake!) and I was lying in bed when I heard a fluttering sound very close by. I decided to tell myself it was a moth (I dealt with my first Chinese moth the other day) but then it moved again and I knew there was no way I was going to sleep until whatever it was was gone. I turned the light on and directly above my head at the top of the wall was a 1 inch long cockroach! I didn't even know they could climb vertical surfaces!!! I'm also trying to convince myself that it was it's little legs scurrying up the wall that I heard (which is bad enough) and they can't actually fly. I'm hoping the rather large wings are for show, otherwise I'm turning my bed into a fortress!

Anyway, battle stations were quickly taken - not quietly I might add, goodness only knows what the neighbours thought I was up to - and I armed myself with the mop and my trusty detergent bottle. And I put some shoes on. No way in hell am I touching those things.

Once I'd taken the precaution of moving my bed, my attempt to kill it where it sat was unsuccessful. In hindsight I'm pleased I don't have a cockroach bloodstain on my very white wall. Instead though the horrible little thing fell off the wall and scurried under my desk (they move very fast) so more furniture moving was required. I ultimately found it under my laptop case before it was swiftly introduced to the mop and the bottle (which is sadly very light at the moment). I didn't realise until I'd cleaned the mess off my floor - FYI cockroach guts are black - how fast my heard was pounding. My fight or flight response went into over drive!

I don't normally have an issue with bugs and insects but I think the reason I hate cockroaches is I don't actually know what their purpose is or anything about them. What do they eat? Do they bite? How do they live? How long do they live for?  Where do they live? Do they fly? Why are they in my home...?

I've got no idea where the horrible thing came from but I'm hoping their only way of getting in is through the gap under the door and there isn't some secret cockroach lair behind my wardrobe. Otherwise there is going to be a lot of midnight screeching on floor 8.

One the plus side, I don't need to clean under my bed anymore. Every cloud...

G x

Ps I just heard scurrying in the hallway. I've blocked the gap under my door...