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Actually it's not so rediculous. People up north (on the mainland) spend a lot more time outdoors than southerners and it's largely because of the insects. Big ones are disgusting, other ones bite like Pacman and fireants can kill you with an allergic reaction. For some reason cold weather kills termites and venomous ants and keeps bugs to a small size.
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Originally Posted by Wendyllen
The roaches, centipedes--(but only because they are poisonous) and spiders are my only concern...esp the spiders. It's almost enough to keep me away, which is a shame and just absolutely rediculous really. Uhhggg
I don't buy this story. To throw a light into the toilet you have to at least have a opening to get it there and an explosion just wouldn't happen. A flash of flame might flare up but it wouldn't burn you to a crisp or anything lol.
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Originally Posted by thrillobyte
Reminds me of the story (true) of the Israeli wife who got a fright from a BIG cockroach in the house. She swatted it with a slipper, scooped it up and threw it into the toilet. When she saw it was still alive struggling to get out she emptied half a can of Raid into the bowl. Don't ask me why she didn't flush. Anyway, the husband comes home, has to use the toilet. He throws his lighted cigarette into the bowl while he's sitting on it and what do you think! BOOM! He goes flying off the toilet, his bottom and privates are burned raw. When the paramedics carrying him down the steps on a gurney ask him what happened, he tells them and they start laughing so hard they drop the poor guy. Whether he slid to the bottom of the stairway strapped to the gurney I don't know but this made headlines around the world.
From this thread I'm understanding that a nice condo on a higher floor is not buggy but anywhere else, it's a constant isssue. Now I know why I see those pictures of grass huts on poles out over the water. To get away from the crawlies. One thread and I just ruled out the tropics. Better to know than to not I guess.
I've been to Oahu and Maui, and Lanai and Molokai on many occasions (staying in hotels or low-rise condos) for up to 2 weeks at a time and have NEVER encountered any of these bugs. If they are as prevalent as people are saying, then what insecticides are tourist hotels and condos using? And why don't more residents use the same stuff? I'm truly curious about this.
I think people in Hawaii are oversensitive to insects. Constantly houses are being tented, exterminators spraying, etc.
Seems to me that a lot of people fall for the moneymaking bull*****. Either that or it's some cultural difference that causes people here to be paranoid about insects. Bugs here aren't worse than anywhere else in the tropics, and growing up in Trinidad I never saw a single exterminator. I mean that literally- I don't remember exterminators even existing in Trinidad. The closest thing was Sevin powder, flypaper, and those green coils to keep away mosquitos. Yes we had bugs. We also had bugs in Texas. Hawaiians need to get over it and stop spraying toxic chemicals everywhere. You do NOT need to have an exterminator spray your house every 6 months.
I'm currently living in the South on the mainland, and we have plenty of critters including poisonous snakes. I've been here 3 years and have yard sprayed quarterly and - despite it being a hot, balmy climate known for bugs and a neighborhood full of trees - I've never encountered anything more than one or two roaches at a time in the house (BIG, fast flying kind) and 2 mice that came in thru pipe holes under kitchen sink. I'm just trying to gauge if Hawaii pest problem is worse than the South? Even if you spray quarterly? Would I really still get cane spiders and centipedes then? Even in the city?
I'm currently living in the South on the mainland, and we have plenty of critters including poisonous snakes. I've been here 3 years and have yard sprayed quarterly and - despite it being a hot, balmy climate known for bugs and a neighborhood full of trees - I've never encountered anything more than one or two roaches at a time in the house (BIG, fast flying kind) and 2 mice that came in thru pipe holes under kitchen sink. I'm just trying to gauge if Hawaii pest problem is worse than the South? Even if you spray quarterly? Would I really still get cane spiders and centipedes then? Even in the city?
Why do you spray quarterly?? Ack, I didn't realize anybody did that in the South. You know the stuff they pray is highly toxic right?
There are safe alternatives like borax powder and roach baits
A big problem for Hawaiian homeowners is termites. If you don't use extermination you could end up destroying your home. Also the ants are all over the kitchen (even in a third floor condo). Who wants ants in your food? Centipedes can give you a nasty bite, like a bee sting. I certainly don't care to find centipedes in my bed!
A big problem for Hawaiian homeowners is termites. If you don't use extermination you could end up destroying your home. Also the ants are all over the kitchen (even in a third floor condo). Who wants ants in your food? Centipedes can give you a nasty bite, like a bee sting. I certainly don't care to find centipedes in my bed!
If the house is sealed, big critters like centipedes won't even get in.
The solution to termites is concrete and steel houses, which apparently people here have yet to discover. Mind boggling that people keep building wooden houses, knowing they'll get eaten by termites... Maybe people would reconsider if they realized that the toxic gas used for tenting gets trapped in foam mattresses, cushions, carpets, food, refrigerators, crawlspaces, walls, etc.
I think the issue is the huge influence of US mainland culture. Mainland culture says houses are made of wood so we build termite feasts then tent them. Mainland culture says bugs are evil so we spray toxic chemicals every 3 months. Mainland culture says houses have dark roofs and small windows so we waste energy heating houses built for Minnesota.
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This thread a must read.
