MrsFychan

Spider bites | Ministry of Health NZ

Snap Shot

Yeah, red backs in NZ ? Do the authorities know about this ?

I mean plenty of red necks, but, red back spiders ?

I thought white tail spiders and weta's were about as bad as it got for poisonous insects in NZ.

Bo-Jangles

I 'spect they do. They can look it up on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redback_spider if they have access to t'interwebby thing.

smileypigface

OK, so I've been here barely a month and yesterday found a dead cockroach just inside our front door - I've kept my cool about it ... mainly by telling myself that it was a lonesome cockroach who lived alone, had no friends or relatives and just happened to be passing and thought our open front door looked like an invitation to enter and take his dying breath! And that's the story I'm sticking to!!

Seriously, I don't think we are infested as our dogs are pretty good at alerting us to insect presence in the house - one tends to 'point' out spiders on walls etc - so I think they would react to cockroaches running around!

I have put all foodstuffs in the larder in sealed plastic boxes or jars and make sure crumbs etc are cleared away immediately.

Should I be doing anything else .... I'm reluctant to start spraying the place with anything because of the dogs and our 4 year old son.

Robbo25

I don't reckon so, and wouldn't suggest you spray the house, get a professional if you need it. They'll come around and send you out for a number of hours, they'll spray the whole place underneath and in the loft and when I've come back I've opened the windows all round, changed the beds and cleaned the kitchen and it's been fine.

MrsFychan

got the post out of the post box just now, three blinkin cockroaches, one fell out and the other two on the paper and letter. YUK YUK YUK

kiwi white

Move to Dunedin, it's too cold (allegedly) for any creep crawlies!

LauraNotts

Euuurrrgh they are gross I hate them. I have found the only way is to completely avoid leaving ANY food out ever anywhere. It encourages clean habits at least, my room is way tidier than it'd ever be at home. Don't leave apple cores or fruit peelings in bins that aren't sealed, put away anything sweet and keep your surfaces clean, fly spray kills them and is a good emergency EEEEEWWWWW reducer. They sell bait that will kill nests quite cheap (like $6-7) in Countdown.

Bo-Jangles

You are mostly right, they are usually bush roaches that come in randomly from outdoors and usually are alone but they do have friends and relatives that think nothing of turning up to the party unannounced. They are a more classy breed that the types we usually associate with ming and dirt.

I don't mind so much when I catch them alive, what worries me the most is when I find them dead and then I then worry about how long they have been mooching about without my knowing about it.

Like Mrs Fych found today, they do often hitch a ride inside the newspapers and junk mail - best solution I find is to throw all the papers on the driveway before I bring them indoors.

Bo-Jangles

This is what you need: Raid Automatic Advanced Insect Control System

available in all supermarkets and DIY stores.

j19fmm

Yes, we got one last summer for the kitchen and living room. Kills the flies etc but not the ants. And a word of warning...make sure it doesn't spray directly on the ceiling...it makes a horrible stain!

Bo-Jangles

Yes, we learned that lesson the hard way too!

j19fmm

It's a bugger

dorrick

'Neverong' is good -put in shallow container across their path - they swarm all over it then go back to the nest and die - the others eat them there killing most off - sometimes takes a day or so but have always found it effective.
Another deterrent is cucumber rubbed across their path if you don't like chemicals but is only temporary measure

Gambolina

Re: ants, apparently if you mix bicarbonate of soda and icing sugar and stick some in their path, they ingest it and it reacts with the formic acid in their stomach, can expel gas and it kills them....they take it back to the nest too, so gets rid of all the blighters! It is a child and pet friendly way to treat rather than using poison....