Hi Mary....

I would have replied off list however I think others may be interested
in a great book I purchased called "1001 all natural secrets to a pest
free property" by Dr. Miles H. Bader

his book offers 1001 (did I say that earlier? Ha!) very interesting
ways to rid your surroundings of everything from moles (a radio with
hard rock music playing thrown in their hole) to pin worms in tomatoes
(buy trogodrema sternale to eat them;) sorry...on to roaches! Borax is
the treatment of choice but its harmful to pets and children....so the
dear Dr has several less conventional ideas:

1- Hedgeapples: used for hundreds of years to repel roaches. They are
the fruit of the osage orange tree. It takes only one small apple to
eliminate the roaches. They will last two months. You can find them at
www.hedgeapple.com.

2- bottoms up....take a 1 lb coffee can and place 2 slices of bread in
it that have been soaked in beer. Place the can anywhere the roaches
exist. Save the lid and dispose of very dead, drunk roaches.

3- a natural repellent is catnip. If you leave little sachets of
catnip in areas they frequent, you will never see a cockroach. You
can make a tea of catnip, cool,place in a spray bottle and you will
never see a coachroach again.

4- there are a number of herbs that will repel cockroaches. They
are bay leaves, cucumber, and cayenne. Cucumber peelings work very
effectively to deter them. Place them around the house.

Then BEST of all? Hire a gecko. Geckos love cockroaches and will chase
and consume them when they can find them. They hunt them at night and
they are one of their favorite meals. If you let just one gecko loose
in an apartment building it will eliminate all the roaches and their
relatives in about 7 to 10 days. However, remember that they don't like
cats and the cat will eat the gecko for dinner! (who says Drs don't
have a sense of humor! Haha!).

Best wishes and good luck!!!!!

Tara

[Posted in FML 6107]