When Summer arrived so too did the cockroaches. I loathe them above all other bugs from Hell. I know they are obligatory in this climate and it’s not like we’re infested. It was just the one that popped in from the garden to have a nose around. Nevertheless it made my stomach turn as it sprinted across the living room floor with its long antennae wiggling about. It was reddish brown. I’ve never seen a reddish brown one before. Trapper Liam, last of the great white hunters, set forth to capture and dispose of the canny creature. He chased the roach round the room for a quite a while until he finally managed to capture it in a downturned glass. Liam cautiously slipped a piece of card under the glass, lifted it gently with its contents violently wriggling and moved slowly to the bathroom. His hand slipped in his attempt to flush the beast away. The rim of the glass decapitated the bug against the pan, guillotining the head cleanly from the torso in single movement. Like a scene from Alien, the headless creature refused to die and writhed around the glass for what seemed like hours. It’s the stuff of my nightmares.
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Perking the Pansies 
Oh NO! Cockroaches freak me out. Jamaican cockroaches are disgusting… Even that picture makes me feel sick to look at it. We have some just like that, and some huge flat ones that live outdoors (thank God). Do yours fly? We don’t get too many in the house but they like the hot and humid weather (like we have now). Your description of the battle with the cockroach was vivid – we have had similar ones. One thing I do know is… they are SMART. And they don’t die easily.
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Yes the little buggars fly. I don’t event want to think about it.
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I loathe them too Jack. I never see them here, surprisingly. I’m sure they are lurking somewhere . I would have no problem with decapitating them, even though they are all God’s creatures. Actually no…I think they are creatures of the Devil.
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They’re crafty little buggars. Their wriggling antennae makes my skin crawl.
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I’m pleased to see that you know your cockroach. Most of the expats here confuse them with the large black stag beetles and therefore deal these gentle and herbivorous giants a horrible death in the mistaken belief that they are dispatching your bugs from Hell.
Cockroaches and chickens don’t seem to need a brain to live. A bit like rioters.
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Yes I know my cockroaches. My first experience of these creatures from hell was in the Canary Islands. They have huge ones there and they all speak Spanish.
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Oh, ew. I think Liam is extremely brave for getting so close to that thing, with nothing but a glass for protection!
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I always make him do it. I scream like a girl!
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If you think that is bad, try biting into a sandwich and finding half of a cockroach still wriggling in the sandwich!
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I think I’m going to be sick.
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interesting creatures, cockroaches; they have two ‘brains’, a small one in the head and a big one near the back legs. Cut off their heads and they bumble around until they starve to death – kind-hearted researchers have fed they via drips and they have led full and active lives, albeit they don’t know where they are going!
With Armageddon becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy, the world will be inherited by headless cockroaches with access to an intravenous drip 🙂 Rock on!
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Two brains? Some people I know don’t have one. I also know some men whose brains aren’t located in their skulls if you know what I mean. Trust you to know this about roaches. Liam’s always accusing me of knowing useless bits of information that I wheel out at dinner parties with ‘did you know…’ We must never have dinner.
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We had some friends across a few months back when we were in Spain and we went for a meal in a really nice restaurant. All sat down, pleased with our choice and deciding what refreshments we would like whilst perusing the menu when across the floor, bold as brass sauntered the only bug known to cast a chill in the hardest of men.
Needless to say a mass exodus followed much to the bemusement of the waiter and we relocated to an Italian down the road and had a lovely meal and lots of wine there. Except hubby who was so traumatised by the whole experience that he could only manage wine – copious amounts of it!!
I feel your anguish Jack……..
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There’s a local guy who comes around and puts pinky finger-nail size pieces of glob into kitchen and bathroom cupboard hinges. Who knows what it is, but we have not seen a cockroach in 7 years. (And we’re still alive). Be careful of scorpions on the ground floor level.
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Forewarned is forearmed!
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This was one of the funniest posts I’ve ever read. Liam you’re Jack’s hero!
Does Liam have any fears apart from your savage turn of phrase?
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I’m a pussy cat to him and he’s my brave little soldier.
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