Above is a internet photos of a Florida Palmetto Bug. Some call it American cockroach. In Florida they can get up to 2 or 3 inches and they FLY. for all details Click HERE or Not (most of the time they prefer outdoors)
The thing to keep in mind is I do NOT touch them and prefer to let Bob the Bug Man swat them for me. Because they FLY.
Saturday AM, while Bob was vacuuming, (keep in mind he is deaf as a post even when not vac) I was sweeping the bathroom floor and Out came a 3 inch Palmetto bug. I raced past the deaf Bob into kitchen and the swat (later found hanging with the bedroom swat)was missing in action. Afraid the bug would be gone, I go back with the broom in hand. I can tell you they will not die if you swat, stab or swish with a broom. But on one of the panic fueled stabs, he clung to the broom, I raced past the deaf and maybe blind, Bob and out on to the pool deck.
There I managed to beat him to death with the side of the broom because I had more room to swing than in our tiny bathroom.
When Bob turned the vac off, I told him the above story and said, didn't you notice me running back and forth stepping over the cord, in panic mode? WHAT? was his answer.
With wild hand motions I explained the roach was 3 inches long yada yada blah blah
Later that morning after my Walmart trip while I put supplies in the cabinet, he took Jake out and came back in and said that giant palmetto bug you killed is not even an inch and a half.
I said how do you know? he said come look. there it was, upside down, dead as dead could be and I said he was bigger before I killed him, he must have shrunk when he died.
I don't think Bob heard me over the loud laughing coming from his bearded face....
18 comments:
Yes, I believe they shrink when you kill them. You know how when you kill a spider, they dry up, curl up, and look much tinier. I am NOT going to the link because I am going to bed now, perchance to dream. But not of giant cockroaches. So is this bug a variety of cockroach? My brother-in-law lived in Florida for decades. They say all the bugs there are giant versions of normal bugs, likely because of the tropical weather. The same thing that makes all the plants grow. You cannot play tennis after dark there because giant bugs come to the lights and bomb the players. They are the size of V.W.'s almost. Bob must have very good concentration when he vacuums, that is hilarious. But I believe it was HUGE and ginormous. After it died, it shrunk in the sun.
ROFL. Excuse my laughing but I just can't help it. I would be the same way about seeing that thing in my bathroom so that's why I find it funny. I'm quite sure your are correct about them shrinking after they die too...lol
Hello Sandra!:) You are so brave! I'm sure it was huge. As we don't get cockroaches in the home, centipedes are my worst nightmare. We can vacuum them up, but I suppose a cockroach is too big to be dealt with like that. I clicked to read more, but for some reason couldn't
get access.
Hello, I have seen those bugs in Florida. The short time we were there, we had the place exterminated a few times. There were HUGE bugs. I am chasing the stink bugs here with the swatter! Wishing you a happy day!
Something I don't miss about the south - flying roaches. I haven't seen one in 27 years in Indiana. Here we have pesky raccoons.
YUCK...I hate bugs! I have never had to deal with roaches but I do get ants in the spring. I understand it is not uncommon for these bugs to come in the house down there in Fla. Just a normal thing...right? Oh but I so love Flas lizards!
That is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo funny. We have those big bugs here too and they are so nasty.
I scream for someone for a paper cup - put something on it - and wait for Rick to come home and get him!
LOL
sandie
I hatttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttte x 1, 000, 000 those things they give me the creeps just looking at a photo. I'll never forget when we were taking a walking tour in Honolulu in the late 80's. Marlu asked the guide if that critter on the side walk was a crayfish( looked like the ones we have here)
he said know that is a palmetto bug. I declare it was at least 4" long and moving like the wind. If one fly at me no matter the size there would be a need for 'clean up on aisle 5' if you get my drift. They are horrid here in the summer.
Ok now I'm itching and I need a bath. I believe you that it was 4" long...and that it shrunk.
Hugs Cecilia
Next time you need to "hide" the dead bug!!! lol I lived in Montgomery AL once and those things were huge!!!
Those palmetto bugs are awful! I get them in my garage, but I have noticed since I've had some house geckos move in too that the palmetto bug population has decreased tremendously. I've watched the geckos go after them and it's fascinating!
I was just thinking (before I read to the end), its corpse dehydrated and withered up.
Boys can laugh all they want, but I'd have been freaking right alongside you.
Man, your narrative is so funny ... like something out of an old Dick Van Dyke episode!
Oh, gosh, sitting here with tears in my eyes! Thank-you..,I needed this.
Bob may not have believed you but I do. Around here or at least around me it would be the dreaded grasshopper.They are all too big, even the tiny ones.
Yes I have heard about these bugs in FL and also about some other unpleasant ones. I would also have found the biggest swatter I could - a broom works - and beat the heck out of that bug so kudos to you. And, of course, everything looks bigger when we are in PANIC mode.
LOL...Oh my goodness MS, you could write a book! What a great story!!
LOL, that was quite the adventure you had!
I remember the first time I saw a palmetto bug when in Florida on vacation.
I thought I would die...that monster scared me to death.
Ugh!!
Love the way you tell your story of the Thing's demise.
Thanks for the latest episode of 'Bob and Sandra'. I was going to compare this to Lucy and Ricky but I thing Fred and Ethel is more like it.
Like Eileen, our battle is with 'stink bugs'. The RG has taken to honing his skills with a rubber band when they are are on the ceiling.
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