Ridding Your House Of Roaches: Pest Control Goes High-Tech

Fighting roaches? Pest control methods for these all-too-adaptable creatures has usually centered on poisons. Prevention is key when it comes to roaches: keeping the house clean and free of food crumbs helps stop roaches from feeding in your home. Boric acid is the most widely-known at-home treatment for roaches. Pest control methods have included baits, traps or "roach motels" and sprays.

Roaches come in at least a half-dozen varieties in the U.S. Most cockroaches prefer to be in moist areas :in houses they tend to live near water pipes, or in damp basements. Some roaches prefer to live outdoors in warm climates, and can be found under mulch or near sprinkler systems.

Because they are not cold tolerant, roaches may infest houses in the wintertime when the temperature drops to freezing. Roaches die when temperatures fall below 23 degrees Fahrenheit. In community extension notices, you will encounter plenty of advice for poisoning roaches. Pest control methods have become more sophisticated in recent years: you don't need to spray poisons anymore.

New ultrasonic technology is high-tech pest control. High-frequency tones are repellent to roaches as well as other insects and rodents. Ultrasonic devices emit a continuous tone, varying to prevent pests from becoming inured to it. The sound has been likened to having a fire engine siren in the living-room, running day in, day out, but audible only to insects and rodents. Electromagnetic functions send the tone through the house wiring, not affecting electronic devices, but driving roaches from the walls as well as from the house. Ultrasonics promise to be the new solution to roaches: pest control that's safe, affordable and easy to use.