Something Ran Across My Kitchen Floor at Night in Spring Hill. Was It a Roach?
You were up late and something moved across the kitchen floor faster than you expected. You are not totally sure what it was. It was dark, it was fast and it disappeared before you could get a good look. Now you are lying in bed trying to decide if you actually saw what you think you saw and whether you need to do something about it.
Here is how to figure out what it was and what to do depending on the answer.
The Most Common Things People Mistake for Roaches in Spring Hill
Not everything dark and fast in a Spring Hill kitchen at night is a roach. A few other things get mistaken for roaches regularly in Hernando County homes.
Crickets are one of the most common cases of mistaken identity. They are dark, they move fast and they startle you the same way a roach does. The difference is that crickets jump rather than scuttle and they tend to be rounder and less flat than a roach. If what you saw bounced or jumped at any point it was probably a cricket.
Palmetto bugs, which are just large American cockroaches, are so common in Spring Hill that most longtime Florida residents recognize them on sight. If you grew up here you probably already know what you saw. If you are newer to Florida the size might have surprised you. American cockroaches are bigger than most people expect the first time they see one.
Silverfish are another possibility if what you saw was in a bathroom rather than the kitchen. They are fast, silvery gray and move in a distinctive fish-like wiggling motion. If it had a shimmery appearance and moved in an undulating way rather than a straight scuttle it was likely a silverfish.
How to Confirm Whether It Was a Roach
The fastest way to confirm whether you have roaches is to check the spots they favor in your kitchen. Do this in the morning before you turn the lights on, or use a flashlight to check without flooding the room with light.
Pull the refrigerator away from the wall and look behind and underneath it. Roaches leave droppings that look like tiny black pepper specks for German cockroaches or larger dark cylindrical droppings for American cockroaches. Finding droppings behind the refrigerator confirms roach activity.
Check under the stove the same way. Check inside the lower cabinet under your kitchen sink. Look in the back corners of lower kitchen cabinets where it is dark and rarely disturbed. If you find droppings in any of these spots you have your answer.
If you want a more direct confirmation put a sticky trap behind the refrigerator or under the sink overnight. Sticky traps catch whatever is moving in those areas and by morning you will know exactly what it was.
What to Do If It Was a Roach
If you found roach activity when you checked behind the fridge and under the stove here is what to do next depending on which one you’re dealing with.
A large reddish brown roach over an inch long is an American cockroach that came in from outside. Check every pipe penetration under your sinks and look for gaps at the base of exterior doors. Sealing those entry points reduces how many come in. One American cockroach occasionally is a nuisance. Finding them regularly means there are gaps that need to be addressed and conditions around the exterior of your home drawing them in.
A small light brown roach under an inch long with two dark stripes is a German cockroach and that warrants calling us immediately. German cockroaches don’t come in occasionally from outside. They live and breed inside your home and the one you saw is almost certainly not the only one. German cockroach populations establish themselves and grow fast and the sooner they’re treated the easier and less expensive it is to eliminate them.
If you’re not sure what species you saw describe it to us when you call. Size, color and where you found it tells us a lot about what you’re dealing with. Our roach exterminator in Spring Hill starts with correctly identifying the species so the treatment actually addresses the right problem.