[nmnita]

Originally Posted by littlewing

This is my first complete summer in Oklahoma (I'm in the southwestern part). I've never seen so many bugs! Fortunately bugs and spiders don't bother me much except for an irrational fear of cockroaches. When I got up this morning there was a large 1 1/4" (I measured it) black or very dark brown cockroach in my bathtub. I sprayed it with a bug spray and went into the living room where there was another one on the floor, upside down, legs still wiggling. Well after closer inspection I noticed they didn't quite look like most roaches. The thorax (the part between the head and body) was about an 1/8" or more whereas most roaches look like their head is attached directly to there body. Also the body or abdomin was fatter at the end instead of more oval like a roach. My question is; does anyone know if these were just some kind of beetle or other bug native to this area?

Whatever it is, like you I hate the things. That is why we have finally broken down and hired a guy to spray the house every few months during the spring and summer. Before we had Mr Spray man I would get out the bug killer and just keep spraying the creatures: talk about over kill: I would hate to see what I would do with a gun if a burglar came into our house.Of course we don't own a gun and I wouldn't know how to use one if we did.

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by nmnita

Whatever it is, like you I hate the things. That is why we have finally broken down and hired a guy to spray the house every few months during the spring and summer. Before we had Mr Spray man I would get out the bug killer and just keep spraying the creatures: talk about over kill: I would hate to see what I would do with a gun if a burglar came into our house.Of course we don't own a gun and I wouldn't know how to use one if we did.

You're funny Nita! I got a laugh out of that.. Thanks

[Mattie Jo]

We are about to hire a man for the summer to spray, but i am only concerned about all the brown recluse that i have in my house. We have sealed up cracks and around pipes, and it has helped. also look under furniture, but there i find black widows. those don't bother me too much but i killed them because i don't need them.

littlewing,

welcome to Oklahoma, as people have been telling me. just watch out for the ticks and brown recluse as both are poisonous, well, ticks can be and brown recluse only make 10 percent of those bitten sick. Look them up so you can identify them. put out sticky traps under dressers and in closets and see what you catch. make sure dogs and cats can't get into sticky traps.

You could be describing a June but I wouldn't know. Look it up on internet. we are getting one that is narrow but is a beetle. i put them back outside.

i need to spend more time outside so i can see the many varieties of bugs we have. the other day when i was outside a small blue bug kept flying around me, but too fast for me to see it.

we all need an oklahoma bug book. i also want one for weeds and other wild growing things. can't find one.

[Okiebound]

If we do get to move to Duncan the only thing I'm going to miss from here in High Desert of Wyoming is the fact that we have virtually no bugs. This has been our worst year so far for spiders. Everyone is having trouble getting rid of them.

[littlewing]

It's amazing how clever these little critters are. I've caulked or used Great Stuff on every crack I can find, sprayed Ortho Home Defense Max (I highly recomend this product) anywhere practical, but if there's just one little place you can't get to they'll find it! I hate to use really aggressive poisons because you kill the good spiders and bugs that eat the bad ones but I don't know an alternative.
Thank you everyone for your comments. My landlord said he's been planning to spray the outside but since it rains EVERY SINGLE day he hasn't been able to do it. I too am especially worried about Brown Recluse since my apartment is built over a very large garage that was converted to just a storage area and the previous owner stored literally just piles of junk, old wood etc. in there. The current owner plans on having it hauled out but hasn't yet done so.

I know my beetle/cockroaches aren't Junebugs - we had those up north but yes you're right there needs to be a book on native Oklahoma pests (both plant and animal). I've found some info online but not enough.

[Cali BassMan]

Without a doubt the most dangerous animal we have in California, killing thousand every year, is man... I'll be glad to leave most of them behind....

[okafaye]

I don't like cockroaches either. There are many, many different kinds, but only about 3 or 4 different kinds will actually live with people. What does that say about us? If the ones that you saw were large and long, and darker in color, they are roaches, but will not live with you. You just see one now and then. I've lived in a rent house that had roaches. I tried to get my landlord to spray and he wouldn't so I would by some bombs that you set off in the house. When I did this my nieghbors would always get more roaches and would ask me if I bombed the house. There were about 5 rent houses by the same landlord. Of course when the bomb was finished they would come home again. Finally, the landlord hired an exterminator. Thats the only way you will really get rid of them. They are nasty little creatures.....

Originally Posted by littlewing

It's amazing how clever these little critters are. I've caulked or used Great Stuff on every crack I can find, sprayed Ortho Home Defense Max (I highly recomend this product) anywhere practical, but if there's just one little place you can't get to they'll find it! I hate to use really aggressive poisons because you kill the good spiders and bugs that eat the bad ones but I don't know an alternative.
Thank you everyone for your comments. My landlord said he's been planning to spray the outside but since it rains EVERY SINGLE day he hasn't been able to do it. I too am especially worried about Brown Recluse since my apartment is built over a very large garage that was converted to just a storage area and the previous owner stored literally just piles of junk, old wood etc. in there. The current owner plans on having it hauled out but hasn't yet done so.

I know my beetle/cockroaches aren't Junebugs - we had those up north but yes you're right there needs to be a book on native Oklahoma pests (both plant and animal). I've found some info online but not enough.

[carvers wife]

I'm coming in a little late on this one, but just moved here and there are many more bug concerns than NY. A guy my husband met told him if you eat garlic it will make you less desireable to the bugs here. I've heard of it with giving it to your dogs because of the fleas. He recommended eating whole cloves, but I want to be liked by people so I bought the supplement.

We were also told that after all this rain it'll make for many more bugs. We moved here last week and my dog was due for her monthly Advantix. I put it on her and was sitting on the floor and realized I had a tick on me- the little sucker had a very hard outer shell and was tough to smush. It probably left her because of the Advantix. I'm wondering are any of the ticks here that cause Lyme disease? In NY the ticks we've taken off her are much larger, deer ticks, I believe, and that was a huge concern there. I read on a previous post to use Sevin powder on the lawn. Our lawn has been high, and growing with all this rain, so we need to get out and do some yard work as soon as it dries up. I'm assuming that's the reason I see people mowing with their pant legs tucked into their socks?

I've also noticed a couple of small brown spiders, like no bigger than a pea, and wondered if they were the brown recluse. Probably not, atleast I hope not.

[Mattie Jo]

Carver's Wife:

They do have Lyme disease here, but mostly Rocky Mountain Spotted Tick Fever. My husband and I both had it this year. We have since sprayed the entire yard, and the dogs have Frontline Plus on them. I no longer go to the river in the summer, especially not with my dogs. come fall the ticks will go away, but I don't know when? First frost?

I would make a bet that the brown spiders are brown recluse. I put out sticky traps, and then I used a magnifying glass to see if they were, and they were.
I have yet to see a brown spider that wasn't, unless it is a cute jumping spider.

If you get bit by a tick any flu symptoms that you get within the next month can be tick fever. get to a doctor as soon as you can. brown recluse spiders don't cause problems in 90 percent of those bitten, but if you get a bite that looks weird go to a doctor. The symptoms are also much like that of a tick bite. you don't have to have redness around a tick bite for you to have been poisoned.

i have a feeling that if garlic doesn't make you smell, the bugs won't be bothered by it at all. also take 100 mg. of B-1 for mosquitoes. They hate that odor.

Read up on the Internet about brown recluse and ticks. I wish I had.

I have put my clothes in plastic that are in my dresser, and the linen is all in plastic. My bed skirt doesn't touch the floor.

littlewing,

could the critters be getting under baseboards, or are those caulked too? What about window screens? This doesn't sound good. I am hiring an exterminator for the summer months. hope that that works somewhat.

[littlewing]

jessaka - the one that was in the tub had to have come up through the plumbing wall. There's a small area there I couldn't caulk. But the one in the living room I'm baffled by. I really caulked well in there (or so I thought). I was at Home Depot today buying more Ortho Home Defense and was talking to the clerk. She has gotten these bugs too and agrees that they aren't roaches. A few other people I've talked to said the same thing. I just don't know what they really are.

All this talk of Brown Recluse is making me a little nervous. My cat tends to shed alot and every time a little hair brushes my skin I jump. Guess I'll go spray my Ortho (got the gallon size this time)!