Last Sunday I found the culmination of my worst fears during the summer-spotting a Palmetto Bug-or American Roach-in the house. They are known to come indoors during hot spells here in the South. They fly and are too big to be called a bug. I want to ask God when I go to heaven what the purpose in that ominous looking creature is. To horrify me? We called the pest company out on Monday to get rid of the possibility of me seeing anymore. The pest guy says "how many have you seen?" I answered just the one. He repeats-though the way he repeated it made fun of my fears-I'm sure of it. "Just one?" So he appeases me and sprays inside and out, laying fancy round bait traps in the laundry room. He left minutes later, but the possibility of spotting another one has not left me.
So last night, Jonathon (4) decides to come in our bed and sleep with hubby and me around 11 pm. We all settle back down and go to sleep. Somewhere in the night, I feel something brushing lightly across my upper lip. In my partly sleepy state, panic steps in and I see in my dreamy state the tenicals of an American Roach brushing up against my face. Lord have mercy. I sat straight up, swatting at my face, ready to call in the calvary. I calmed down and looked at the bed, ready to break a ten commandment and commit murder on a bug when I see Jonathons head resting where mine used to. He must have rolled over on me and his hair brushed my face. If you believe anything else happened, don't tell me your theory. :-)
By the way, the sheets came off the bed this morning-I decided it was time to wash them and it had nothing to do with inspection-and I am proud to say, all is as it should be.
In case you think my fears are unfounded, listen up. The roach can nibble on your ear while you sleep. The following is taken from good roach info
Q7: I read a newspaper article about children taken to the hospital with cockroach bites. Do cockroaches bite humans?
A: The cockroach is an omnivore, that is, it eats everything edible, animal and vegetable. So if we do not move around too much while sleeping they might be inclined to nibble on our earlobes at night. They are rarely aggressive enough to attack us while we are awake. When visiting Tulane University in New Orleans many years ago I slept in a dormitory room and cockroaches were flying down from the ceiling onto my head. I would guess that these large American cockroaches, _Periplaneta americana_, would be capable of taking a good bite out of me. Only the larger species could take a bite through our skin. Of course the skin of children is much more tender and vulnerable to a roach bite.
Roaches hiss, can live up to 1 month without their head, love to eat glue and will nibble sores in the middle of the night on pets.
Now that I have completely grossed you out, have a nice day! :-P
UPDATE I had to remove the big ugly picture of the big ugly roach that I had attached originally. I had to make it user friendly for me. :-) I couldn't take looking at that thing everytime I logged on to my page.
