How do you get rid of crickets in your home? (water heater, dangerous)

[William Durston]

Our family have lived in Fountain Hills area for 20 years and the crickets have been ok. just very noisy sometimes in the evening.
However, this year 2013 we noticed little heaps of black dust substance around the base of house. I swept this away and put boric acid powder down, then again the black powder substance appeared.
We called the builder and he said this is "cricket droppings i.e. faeces" and suggested getting the bug man out to spray.
However, I know each creature lives off another and if the crickets are harmless, I would rather live and let live.
Of course, an odd one jumps inside the house when the door has been open, we just remove him/her and maybe they end up down the toilet!
Any suggestions..........thanks in anticipation.........B&A....in Arizona.....

[Guitarmaan]

Our cat pretty much kills any crickets in the house.

I just wish she wouldn't howl to let us know she's found one!

[LBTRS]

Originally Posted by William Durston

Our family have lived in Fountain Hills area for 20 years and the crickets have been ok. just very noisy sometimes in the evening.
However, this year 2013 we noticed little heaps of black dust substance around the base of house. I swept this away and put boric acid powder down, then again the black powder substance appeared.
We called the builder and he said this is "cricket droppings i.e. faeces" and suggested getting the bug man out to spray.
However, I know each creature lives off another and if the crickets are harmless, I would rather live and let live.
Of course, an odd one jumps inside the house when the door has been open, we just remove him/her and maybe they end up down the toilet!
Any suggestions..........thanks in anticipation.........B&A....in Arizona.....

Crickets may be harmless but they attract things that are not harmless like spiders and scorpions. We had the same issue and an exterminator solved the problem. I also used some food grade diatomacious earth and it worked wonders on the crickets. Spread it under plants and around the base of the house and had hundreds of dead crickets. It was easier to pay someone else to do this so we hired the bug guy to come every two months.

[Jukesgrrl]

I had crickets in the duct work of my house the first year I lived in Tucson. I had to get a exterminator anyway to spray against termites, so I told him and he fixed it. End of problem. Most of the people I know in Tucson have annual contracts with exterminators and get sprayed for something or another three or four times a year. My guy even took care of pack rats one summer (there was an infestation in the entire subdivision) and the next winter got rid of little tiny bugs that were carried into the house on a poinsettia plant (he figured that out). Well worth the money IMHO.

[DetroitN8V]

Cy-Kick CS is some amazing stuff. Get in on Amazon, get a nice chemical sprayer while you're at it, dilute per the instructions and spray your perimeter. It's less expensive and likely more potent than what you'd pay the bug guy for. The worst part will be sweeping up all the dead bugs that crawl out of the darkness to croak on your patio.

[Lwr32]

I've on,y lived in Goodyear for 5 months, so I guess maybe I'll see a scorpion or 2, maybe. I rent a house and the lease says I have to have pest control, so I do. They came once so far. They will be coming every 3 months. I haven't seen any scorpions, yet, but found a couple crickets dead on my patio after the pest control guy came. I've heard a cricket or two but haven't seen them. I guess I'm lucky, so far. No rattlesnakes or snakes of any kind yet. I say "yet" because I haven't lived here long enough to know what's to come

[bncreative]

I have crickets coming up through my toilet every night sometimes there are up to nine crickets in the toilet bowl. I don't know how to get rid of this I've poured bleach down I've poured soda and vinegar and still nothing works.

[wase4711]

call a pest control company

[Burning Madolf]

Originally Posted by bncreative

I have crickets coming up through my toilet every night sometimes there are up to nine crickets in the toilet bowl. I don't know how to get rid of this I've poured bleach down I've poured soda and vinegar and still nothing works.

I'd follow Wase's advice but in the meantime you can try running water down every drain in the house to make sure all your traps are full?

[wase4711]

great advice Burning; since I have run the water in EVERY drain in my house on a regular basis, in conjunction with good pest control, we've had zero pests come up through any drain for at least 3 years..