When you hear the word “cockroach” your initial reaction is to shudder. No one likes to see those creepy crawlers, especially crawling around your home. Cockroaches are most active at night as they tend to hide out where it’s dark and moist, like areas such as behind your fridge, sink, and other major appliances. They can also flatten their bodies in order to hide in tiny areas such as cracks in your walls. Could your Portland home have cockroaches? Know the signs!

Physical Sight

Could Your Portland Home Have Cockroaches? Know the SignsThe most obvious sign that your Portland home has a cockroach infestation is physically seeing them. Since cockroaches are nocturnal animals, the best time to spot them is at night. If you turn on a light in a dark room, you will typically see the cockroaches scatter.

However, if you see a roach during the day, it can mean the infestation has been going on for a while and has progressed to a point where immediate action is needed. Roaches will come out in the day due to overcrowding and low food sources.

Roach Feces

Cockroaches are like the garbage of insects and that’s not just because they’re disgusting. They eat everything from plant matter to people food, dead skin cells, garbage, and even feces. Roaches have a high metabolism so their appetite turns into the second sign of an infestation: feces droppings.

Depending on the type of roach your house is infested with, the feces can resemble anything from tiny specks of pepper to coffee grounds to oval pellets. If you can see a large amount of roach feces in a fairly visible location like behind your refrigerator, inside your pantry or cupboards, then it is likely you have a roach infestation.

Roach Eggs

Cockroach infestations can get out of hand quickly because they are aggressive breeders. This makes for an easy-to-spot sign that your house has a problem. Roach eggs are oblong, brown casings and are most commonly found in pantries, behind furniture, in cracks in the wall, in books and in other tight areas.

Roach Smell

One of the biggest signs of a cockroach infestation is the smell. Cockroaches give off a pungent, musty odor that gets worse the longer the infestation goes on. Not only will you smell the oily scent of live cockroaches, but you will also start to smell the decomposition of roaches that have died within your home.

If you’re noticing any of these signs and think your Portland home could have cockroaches, you need to immediately call the cockroach removal experts at Maine Bed Bugs and Pest Control. Contact us today at (207) 650-8654.