ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) — New Mexico is home to various types of cockroaches, including German, brown banded, American, and Oriental, according to New Mexico Department of Health. Although we see the most of them during summer, there’s a chance some of these four-legged guests will wander into your home this autumn during their search for warmth.
What cockroaches do we have in Albuquerque?
Fortunately, there’s a myriad of ways to make their trek into your residence a bit trickier. Information sourced by the National Cooperative Extension recommends “physical control” measures – meaning, preventing roaches from being able to enter a building in the first place. Some of the suggested methods include sealing gaps, as a gap with “even a small amount of light coming in” is a gap that’s big enough for a cockroach to enter. It’s especially important to seal cracks found in food-handling areas, between sinks and counters, and around baseboards.
The City of Albuquerque also recommends these tips for keeping cockroaches at bay:
- Limit access to food by placing dry goods in sealable, plastic containers, cleaning dishes immediately following use, sweeping/vacuuming on a regular basis, sealing pet food containers
- Limit access to water by repairing leaks
- Vacuum or smash live bugs then flush or discard outside of the home. Using over-the-counter products to kill roaches may cause over-exposure to chemicals and cause certain species to drop egg casings pre-maturely; making the problem worse
- Seal cracks and crevices with caulking or patch holes in walls, particularly where pipes or wiring pass through
- Replace broken screens or worn weather stripping
- Remove excess materials like papers and cardboard boxes that act as hiding spaces
If cockroaches still seem totally out of hand in your part of town, the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority offers a treatment that may help out. “We will come out to your location and treat the sewer access hole near your home with boric acid to reduce cockroach infestations in the vicinity,” said ABCWUA Communications Director David Morris. “Anyone who is a water authority customer, who has water authority sewer service, can request the treatment.”
As for the process itself, the treatment is sprayed directly down the manhole. In most cases, there’s not even a need to lift the manhole lid. It’s a service that’s ABCWUA has been offering for over twenty years, and according to Morris, they get 2,500 to 3,000 requests for treatment each year…