Cockroaches, in London? It's more likely than you think
Russ Garrett
the corner into the space. We agreed that, if we could get it working,
it would be quite a useful tool for trying to recycle plastic for 3D
printing.
Inside the perforated (Ø~5mm) base of this device, there were some
little baby cockroaches, which have subsequently escaped and are now
at large in the space. This is obviously not a good thing.
We are going to employ some countermeasures to hopefully get rid of
these guys before they get old enough to breed. But be aware that they
are around, and let us know if you spot any of them.
Oh, and note that at least one restaurant on Kingsland Road has a
cockroach infestation :/.
Cheers,
--
Russ Garrett
ru...@garrett.co.uk
Michael Shiloh
On 10/09/2011 12:15 PM, Russ Garrett wrote:
> Inside the perforated (Ø~5mm) base of this device, there were some
> little baby cockroaches, which have subsequently escaped and are now
> at large in the space. This is obviously not a good thing.
Yeah, that will totally mess up your 3D printing...
scary boots
phil jones
poison needle guns or sprays?
More seriously. I suggest having a basic food ban for a period. Clean
out the fridges. Remove all food. No one brings food in during the
ban.
phil
Catherine Flick
Russ Garrett
> out the fridges. Remove all food. No one brings food in during the
> ban.
Cockroaches can survive for a pretty long time on very little food at
all, so I'm not sure how effective that would be (especially compared
to the disruption it would cause). Removing all things edible to
cockroaches from the space would be a challenge.
--
Russ Garrett
ru...@garrett.co.uk
Sam Cook
Callum Finlayson
rather than just allowing to starve to death. They can survive for
weeks with no food, and for months on tiny quantities of organic
material.
Many moons ago (mid 90s) we had a significant cockroach problem at my
uni hall of residence, and once established they required substantial
effort (close the building down & fumigate) to get rid of.
Catherine Flick
Russ Garrett
--
Russ Garrett
ru...@garrett.co.uk
Billy
Firstly, my apologies for this situation.
When we were playing with the plastics-injection-moulding system, late
on a Tuesday evening, It was joked that we should bet a meat-mincer to
break the plastic granules down.
At 2am, we found one outside the hackspace, behind one of the
restaurants on kingsland road. When we brought it back, around half-a-
dozen of us helped open it up, and we found the cockroaches inside the
motor.
I cleaned off the useful mechanical parts, but i wasn't sure what to
do with the motor.
It's currently sealed in a black plastic bag on the workshop balcony.
I've been spraying it with the anti-cockroach flavour of Raid. It's
why it's sealed.
I didn't know that they'd got out before that.
There are a few issues thhat need addressing.
Firstly, I don't normally womble things like this, for this sort of
reason. I'll buy cheap food, that's hitting it's chew-by-date, but i
don't usually womble food based stuff. This was specifically asked
for, so i brought it in.
Secondly, none of us that were there that night, thought much about
the unwelcome guests, that had been inadvertantly brought into the
space.
Thirdly, i have tried to kill off the little bastards, so we wouldn't
have this problem. I'm sorry that it didn't work effectively.
Fourthly, with the range of food we bring in, and the generally
lackadaisical approach to food hygiene that we have, it was only a
matter of time before it happened.
Fifthly, stuff like this happens every day. When you have any large
concentration of people in a small space like London, then you get
various forms of parasites roaming around. Cockroaches are not the
most extreme example, politicians are worse...
It'll be worth shouting the exterminators to get rid of them. They'll
do a more professional job with better poisons than we can get access
to.
When you're in London, you are consistently playing a game of
restaurant roulette, wondering which of your favourite establishments
last had a visit from environmental services.
The traps should fix some of the problem, there's a tin of anti-
cockroach Raid spray next to the workshop sink and i'll shout the
Hackney health inspectors to run around the restaurants.
It could have been worse, at least it's not an infestation of fleas...
On Oct 10, 11:55 am, Russ Garrett <r...@garrett.co.uk> wrote:
> I got some off ebay already, should arrive tomorrow.
>
> On 10 October 2011 11:24, Catherine Flick <lie...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > I'll see if I can find some sticky traps and bring them along with me on
> > Wednesday - even if other traps have been laid some extras won't go amiss!
> > C.
>
>
> >> As others have suggested they need actively (and quickly) destroying,
> >> rather than just allowing to starve to death. They can survive for
> >> weeks with no food, and for months on tiny quantities of organic
> >> material.
>
> >> Many moons ago (mid 90s) we had a significant cockroach problem at my
> >> uni hall of residence, and once established they required substantial
> >> effort (close the building down & fumigate) to get rid of.
>
> >> > One way traps should work pretty well - get a 2L bottle; cut the top
> >> > off;
> >> > put bait in the bottom of the bottle then reattach the top but facing
> >> > the
> >> > other way around - 'roaches get in, struggle to get out.
> >> > S
>
> >> >> On 9 October 2011 21:59, phil jones <inters...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >> > More seriously. I suggest having a basic food ban for a period. Clean
> >> >> > out the fridges. Remove all food. No one brings food in during the
> >> >> > ban.
>
> >> >> Cockroaches can survive for a pretty long time on very little food at
> >> >> all, so I'm not sure how effective that would be (especially compared
> >> >> to the disruption it would cause). Removing all things edible to
> >> >> cockroaches from the space would be a challenge.
>
> >> >> --
> >> >> Russ Garrett
>
> --
> Russ Garrett
> r...@garrett.co.uk
Glen
> We are going to employ some countermeasures to hopefully get rid of
> these guys before they get old enough to breed. But be aware that they
> are around, and let us know if you spot any of them.
they all die?
Glen
scary boots
Steff
> they all die?
Yeah. If there's one thing better than cockroaches, it's giant glowing
radioactive cockroaches imbued with a sinister alien intelligence.
Though "London destroyed by giant Hackspace cockroach menace" would be
publicity of a sort, I suppose.
S
Tweaker
http://www.bugs.nau.edu/bug_cuisine_crunchy_cajun_cockroaches.html
No more messing about,get a 4 wheel stall with cooking/frying
facilities,collect a few roaches,and feed the Hoxton weekend "in-
crowd"!
They always looking for something "new"/macabre/weird.
Give them something to chew on.
And the menu could be endless.
T
On Oct 10, 3:41 pm, Steff <st...@steff.name> wrote:
Will Green
have eaten...
Billy
I don't know about you, but wild cockroaches always taste a little
gamey to me.
On Oct 10, 5:02 pm, Will Green <in...@flux.org.uk> wrote:
> But they're hardly corn fed. Think of what a roach in the space might
> have eaten...
>
Tweaker
can get any!
And they apparently sustainably fed,on organic waste.
They going like no day tomorrow in the W10 Delicatessen.
Its the new trend,and its spreading,soon at your local eaterie.
Amran
...its spreading,soon at your local eaterie.
whether you like it or not.
Nigel Worsley
> I have a can of Johnson flea spray, can mentions
> cockroaches. It's very effective on fleas, hopfully
> it's as good on cockroaches.
It probably is, but one can won't go very far.
> If you are sleeping at the space tonight and you are
> not easy to wake up you may wish to drag a beanbag
> out onto the balcony or I will spray around you.
Sleeping in the space is only tolerated as long as it doesn't get in the way of anything else in the space. I would
say that this is far more important and it is therefore reasonable to ban sleeping there tonight. Spray the sleepers
too if necessary, they seem to be there almost as often as the carpets.
Nigle
M
Is it likely to effect people with breathing difficulties, coming into
the space the following evening?
--
>
++++++++++[>+>+++>++
+++++>++++++++++<<<<
-]>>>+++++++.>++++++
+++++.+++..---------
.++++++++++.<<+++.<.
Nigel Worsley
> the space the following evening?
I would say almost certainly no, I am ashmatic and have used such sprays before without any problems.
If there was the slightest risk then the manufacturers would print warnings big and large on the can to
cover their corporate arses, no warning can be assumed to mean no problem.
Nigle
spooq
>
> I am planning to spay the carpets around 5-6AM.
Might be better to spay the cockroaches instead?
Luke
Tweaker
As a suggestion,try this:Borax!
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/doityourself/qt/Roach_Killer.htm
Cheaper than sprays,but still fairly efficient.
T
On Oct 10, 11:23 pm, spooq <spo...@gmail.com> wrote:
tom
ran under the worktop before I had a chance to womp it
Monty
attractive and accessible to them, killing some roaches will simply
create a void that others will soon fill.
Cockroaches are living things and it's disturbing how quick people are
rallying to kill them and resort to using chemicals that may possibly
affect other animals that visit the space e.g. Glen's dog. We should
place humane traps and release them elsewhere and not use those
horrible sticky traps that typically cause the particular critter
unfortunate enough to get caught in it to struggle to the point of
breaking limbs and suffocating or getting left to starve to death. We
should then also concentrate on roach-proofing the space by keeping
food in tightly sealed containers, never leaving dishes unwashed -
especially at night - and wiping counters thoroughly as well as
keeping typically moist areas dry as possible, sweeping floors, and
vacuum frequently. It may help to place bay leaves, cucumbers, garlic,
hedgeapples, or catnip around to repel them.
Philippe Bradley
Darren McDonald
> Killing cockroaches is cruel and futile. Unless we make the space less
> attractive and accessible to them, killing some roaches will simply
> create a void that others will soon fill.
>
I'm from Buenos Aires, and I say kill 'em all!
Mike
> Killing cockroaches is cruel and futile. Unless we make the space less
> attractive and accessible to them, killing some roaches will simply
> create a void that others will soon fill.
>
You missed "it's just a matter of time" off the end of this paragraph.
Mike.
Alec Wright
Adrian Godwin
garlic, hedgeapples, or catnip placed around it. Maybe we could hang
some lucky charms on the door, too. And perhaps some incantations.
-adrian
Sam Kelly
Sam
Sam Kelly, http://www.eithin.co.uk/
That's it. We're not messing around anymore, we're buying a bigger dictionary. - Tibor Fischer, The Thought Gang.
Mark Steward
Avishalom Shalit
and we didn't want to use chemicals, here's is what we found.
keeping the place immaculate , (i mean spic and span, not a crumb...)
it almost entirely worked against ants.
they just went elsewhere.
as for spices,
we tried pepper,(hot and black) we tried cumin, turmeric, bay leaves
and rosemary, and cinnamon.
ants were baffled for a day or two, (not crossing the spice perimeter
i had set up) (yes, we actually had a trail of spice blocking the
door.)
then they just got used to the smell and moved on.
(same effect as a trail of talcum powder)
rosemary is supposed to deter fleas , don't know, never had fleas.
we then stepped it up and got oil essences .
most aromatic oils keep ants away for as long as you can smell it (1-2
days.) then you need another drop.
oil of cinnamon seemed to have worked best. (one drop on the kitchen counter)
----
as for roaches, 2 things worked.
1- put a rag over the drain in the shower
2- insert 2 cats into house. (this was best. there are no roaches when
a cat is in the house, at least not whole living ones)
-- vish
Russ Garrett
> Unless we make the space less
> attractive and accessible to them, killing some roaches will simply
> create a void that others will soon fill.
There is no evidence for this. The space has been 'roach-free for over
a year now, and these have only turned up because they were brought
in. They are not pervasive in London, and I am fairly sure that if we
eradicate them they won't reappear.
> Cockroaches are living things and it's disturbing how quick people are
> rallying to kill them and resort to using chemicals that may possibly
> affect other animals that visit the space e.g. Glen's dog.
Everything I've ordered is harmless to pets (unless your pets are
arthropods, in which case I'd recommend against letting them run
around the space anyway).
> We should
> place humane traps and release them elsewhere and not use those
> horrible sticky traps that typically cause the particular critter
> unfortunate enough to get caught in it to struggle to the point of
> breaking limbs and suffocating or getting left to starve to death.
I understand this sentiment for lesser pests such as mice (although my
experience trying this with mice has been notably unsuccessful), but
cockroaches are on a different level of pestiness (peskiness?).
> We
> should then also concentrate on roach-proofing the space by keeping
> food in tightly sealed containers, never leaving dishes unwashed -
> especially at night - and wiping counters thoroughly as well as
> keeping typically moist areas dry as possible, sweeping floors, and
> vacuum frequently.
At the risk of sounding blunt, this is never going to happen.
Cockroaches can survive on tiny amounts of food, and the hackspace is
never going to be spotlessly clean.
> It may help to place bay leaves, cucumbers, garlic,
> hedgeapples, or catnip around to repel them.
I suspect if it was that easy, cockroaches would not have the
formidable reputation as domestic pests that they do.
--
Russ Garrett
ru...@garrett.co.uk
Adrian Godwin
-adrian
On Fri, Oct 14, 2011 at 3:45 PM, Sam Kelly <s...@eithin.co.uk> wrote:
Mike
>
> ----
>
> as for roaches, 2 things worked.
> 1- put a rag over the drain in the shower
> 2- insert 2 cats into house. (this was best. there are no roaches when
> a cat is in the house, at least not whole living ones)
>
> -- vish
>
I'm sure there must be a butcher on the Kingsland road whos cat has just
had kittens?
Russ, is cat food something that we can put through as an infrastructure
cost or do we need to run a pledge?
Mike.
Simon Howes
Surely releasing swarms of hungry wasps into the space would be more natural and green way to reduce the roaches?
Kimball Johnson
That aside, is having the cat kill the roaches any better than humans
killing the roaches, aside from the fact that the space would have a
cat, which is itself good (unless you are allergic to them)
Kimball
Avishalom Shalit
by the way, as long as I'm noisy-ing the airwaves,
i'd like to ask whether my assessment last week, (that i am about to
get told to shut up about the "give it back" political slogan debate)
overly self concious, or is that off topic banter acceptable. (you can
reply in private if you don't wish to add to my/this noise going on
here)
-- vish
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux)
>
> iEYEARECAAYFAk6YTdkACgkQmUrfmTU1ohXpjwCfear4TqHtGzl07G2O7y0vulHY
> +/UAnRSwPRm8VYzbFxjWPorjL45bkEEk
> =Lho+
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>
>
Catherine Flick
tom
"well its simple, we release a breed of eagle that eats the wasps"
"and when they become a problem?"
On Oct 14, 4:00 pm, Simon Howes <simonhowes...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> Surely releasing swarms of hungry wasps into the space would be more natural
> and green way to reduce the roaches?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > If we got enough cheap vodka, we would soon learn to overlook the
> > cockroaches.
>
> > -adrian
>
> > On Fri, Oct 14, 2011 at 3:45 PM, Sam Kelly <s...@eithin.co.uk> wrote:
> > > I see absolutely nothing wrong with this plan. Possibly not all at once,
> > but
> > > decorative features of garlic and bay leaves would be tasteful,
> > atmospheric,
> > > and odorously savoury. In fact, we should get some cheap vodka (or
> > similar
> > > solvent), infuse it with superhuman quantities of garlic, and use that
> > > liberally as an air freshener.
>
> > > Sam
>
>
> > >> I think the hackspace would be very nice with bay leaves, cucumbers,
> > >> garlic, hedgeapples, or catnip placed around it. Maybe we could hang
> > >> some lucky charms on the door, too. And perhaps some incantations.
>
> > >> -adrian
>
> > >> On Fri, Oct 14, 2011 at 3:36 PM, Alec Wright <ale...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > >> > Sorry, is this a joke?
>
Catherine Flick
"and what happens when the wasps become a problem?"
"well its simple, we release a breed of eagle that eats the wasps"
"and when they become a problem?"
Adrian Godwin
Wouldn't work. They can't jump high enough to catch the eagles.
phil jones
> At the risk of sounding blunt, this is never going to happen.
> Cockroaches can survive on tiny amounts of food, and the hackspace is
> never going to be spotlessly clean.
>
Is this whole issue related to our "shall we get a cleaner" problem of
a month or two ago?
phil
Mark Steward
Anyone got Mary Poppins's number?
Spit spot...
cepm...@yahoo.co.uk
that we get hours of entertainment from said moggy.
Something along the lines of "Simons Cat" (search youtube for a flavour
of what is possible.
Phelineophile Phil
--
" et cognoscetis veritatem et veritas liberabit vos. "
On Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:52:20 +0100, Avishalom Shalit <avis...@gmail.com>
wrote
M
M
On 15 October 2011 00:57, M <a.turn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> +1 for a hackcat
>
--
>
++++++++++[>+>+++>++
+++++>++++++++++<<<<
-]>>>+++++++.>++++++
+++++.+++..---------
.++++++++++.<<+++.<.
SheraDreaming
I want to rid my house of cats."
-Shel Silverstein
Avishalom Shalit
perhaps with an rfid to let just the right cat in
-- vish
Simon Howes
And probably also against tenancy agreements
Can we stop with the wishful thinking and out the poison and strong resolve now, please?
Dave Ingram
Nigel Worsley
> "well its simple, we release a breed of eagle that eats the wasps"
Won't work, you need Honey Buzzards
"and when they become a problem?"
Break out the shotguns and make game pie.
Nigle
Nigel Worsley
> attractive and accessible to them, killing some roaches will simply
> create a void that others will soon fill.
Bullshit.
All out chemical warfare is the only effective way to deal with this.
Is starving them to death (which is the inevitable outcome of your 'humane' methods even if they work) any better?
I don't think leaving garlic around will help unless we have an infestation of vampires.
Nigle
Billy
I saw a bottle of Diatomaceous Earth in the main room,
http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp
I guess that someone brought it in to help with our unwelcome guests.
Like many things we do at the hackspace, it'll work better when we
communicate what we're doing more effectively. (Yes, i'm guilty of
this too...)
Who brought it in? How effective did you find it? What's the best way
to use it?
Russ Garrett
since it arrived because I'm in Sweden.
Russ
--
Russ Garrett
ru...@garrett.co.uk
Monty
Also, the humane method do not involve starving them. It involves
humanely trapping them with food and water then releasing them in more
favourable environment(s).
Adrian Godwin
Where do you suggest putting them that they'd like better ?
Monty
less likely to be of a pest to us and possibly others. So a forest/
wooded area, the skip, the alleyway, anywhere that isn't in the
immediate area of the space.
Richard Fine
> By favourable I didn't necessarily mean solely for them but somewhere
> less likely to be of a pest to us and possibly others. So a forest/
> wooded area, the skip, the alleyway, anywhere that isn't in the
> immediate area of the space.
>
At which point they'd either starve to death anyway, or start eating
food that other creatures would have eaten, thereby depriving them of
it, and risking causing some of them to starve to death. So I guess it'd
better be a place where the indigenous creatures are worth less than
cockroaches?
Tim Storey
> On 10/16/2011 3:54 PM, Monty wrote:
>> By favourable I didn't necessarily mean solely for them but somewhere
>> less likely to be of a pest to us and possibly others. So a forest/
>> wooded area, the skip, the alleyway, anywhere that isn't in the
>> immediate area of the space.
>>
this is getting beyond surreal.
can we get on with the chemical annihilation now?
or maybe every member should take some home in a jar make them some soup
and give them a hug or something...
\t
phil jones
Martin
Tim Storey
> Awesome, robot roaches, all we need to do is attach a flamethrower and
> camera to the frount and we have our roach problem solved
>
frikkin laserz dude...
\t
Adrian Godwin
> So I guess it'd better be a
> place where the indigenous creatures are worth less than cockroaches?
>
Ah, that's easy. There are many such locations in London. Estate
agents, banks, the palace of westminster ...
James Heaver
Monty
areas they would not already be found, I could understand but we're
talking about a couple of beasties capable of surviving on minimal
food migrating to areas where there is typically copious amounts of
human food waste and thus is incredibly unlikely to cause cataclysmic
imbalances to the microecosystem(s) they would be released in.
Although, to have the least impact they could just be released in the
area the mincer was originally found.
Adrian Godwin
wild. Thus you may be committing an offence by capturing and then
releasing them elsewhere. So if you don't want to kill them, you
probably have to take them home and keep them as pets.
Mark Steward
Billy
On Oct 16, 8:05 pm, Mark Steward <markstew...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Not any more. You need a licence to release things like the grey squirrel,
> black rat, parakeet, budgie and wallaby.
>
> Anyway, humanely killing them is perfectly acceptable, unless Monty's
> volunteering to catch them all for us. I think it would seem somewhat
> irresponsible to deliberately release cockroaches in a street of
> restaurants.
>
> Mark
> On Sun, Oct 16, 2011 at 6:11 PM, Adrian Godwin <artgod...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > ISTR that it's illegal to release creatures classed as vermin into the
> > wild. Thus you may be committing an offence by capturing and then
> > releasing them elsewhere. So if you don't want to kill them, you
> > probably have to take them home and keep them as pets.
>
Adrian Godwin
remedies or are some of them still lying in the space unused ? Or have
they succumbed to Montyphy's hug-a-roach approach ?
And what happened to the meat mincer ? It was presumably safe on the
balcony soaked in pesticide, but where did it go when we cleared the
balcony ?
If we've tried everything easy and are still infested, we probably
ought to get tough. For a guide :
http://www.hackney.gov.uk/pest-control-fees-and-charges.htm
quotes £119 for a visit, which I would suspect pays for relatively
little in the way of pesticide products when bought in domestic-sized
tins.
-adrian
Monty
not likely to be able to visit for a few weeks so sadly the roaches
are unlikely to get any hugging loving. :(