It was on a beautiful spring day in Orange County when Termite Terry got a call from the local school district. The district’s operations manager told Terry that they had roaches in one of the classrooms and asked if he’d take care of it. 
When Termite Terry arrived, the school’s principal took him to the room where they were having the roach problem. The classroom’s teacher showed them samples of the roaches they had found. These roaches were reddish brown, about two inches long, and Terry identified them as American Roaches. This is the largest of the roach species commonly found in Orange County, and they can also fly.
Termite Terry inspected the interior of this classroom very carefully. The room was super clean, and he found no signs of food or water that would attract these pests.
This particular building was a portable classroom that had been set on the school’s asphalt playground. He got out his flashlight and inspected the areas under this classroom. No signs of debris or water were found under there. The asphalt that this building sat on was clean, and there were no cracks in it where any roaches could hide.
After discussing the situation, the district’s operations manager authorized the treatment for this classroom. Terry’s crew did the work on the following Saturday and they were sure that this problem had been solved.
It was only a week later when the operation’s manager called Terry and said that the teacher and her students were still complaining about the roaches. Terry couldn’t believe what he was hearing but said that he’d go back and take another look at the situation.
He got to the classroom and had the teacher show him what she was seeing. Sure enough, she pointed out several more roaches that were in the classroom. Terry said to the teacher, “This doesn’t make any sense. You’ve got a very clean classroom and there is no food or water in here to attract them. I’ll talk to the operations manager and schedule a retreatment this weekend.”
The crew went back that Saturday and really checked every nook and cranny in that portable building. Additional treatments were made and his technician assured Terry that he had fixed the problem.
The operations manager called Terry again on the following week to say that the roaches were still there. Terry said to himself, “This is completely nuts! There’s no way they could still have a roach problem. If they still have roaches, someone must be bringing them from home in their lunch bags or backpacks.”
Terry went back to meet with the teacher and he shared his suspicions with her. Together, they went through all the items and searched for a clue, but there were no signs of anything to be found. By this time, the teacher had lost all patience and suggested that maybe it was time to call another pest control company. Terry was not ready to give up, and he told her that he was going to reinspect the unit’s exterior.
He went all the way around the portable building again, looking closely for any signs. The underside of the building was also re-checked.
Now that he was completely frustrated, Terry sat down on the room’s front porch. He said to himself, “This just doesn’t make any sense. I’ve looked everywhere and there’s no reason why this place should have a roach problem. They’ve got to be coming from someplace else!”
Terry stood up and started looking around the playground area. It was all paved and there was nothing placed near the building. However, he did notice that there was a very old tree, located about thirty feet from the building. With nothing else to look at, he decided to walk over to see the tree up close.
This tree was old and appeared as though it was dying. After looking closer, Terry noticed a large hole on the side of the tree, where an old branch had broken off.
Terry went back to his truck to get a ladder. Once he got the ladder in place, he climbed up to see what was going on inside of this hole in the tree. Using his flashlight, he looked inside and found hundreds and hundreds of American roaches inside. “I can’t believe it! This is where they’re coming from,” he said out loud.
Terry met with the operations manager and showed him where hundreds and hundreds of American roaches were living in the tree. Terry went on to explain that this tree was literally a cockroach factory, and it was the likely source of their roach problem.
The tree really was in bad shape. Its center core had rotted out and it was virtually hollow. Treatment of this tree would have been impractical, and the process would have probably done even more harm to it. The tree was also a potential safety hazard because it was so weak, and it could be easily blown over during a wind storm. For these reasons, both of them agreed that the tree should be removed.
Termite Terry thought that the problem had finally been put to rest until he got another call a week later. The operations manager called to tell him that certain members of the community were protesting the removal of this old tree. After revisiting all of the reasons of why the tree needed to be removed, they agreed that the only way to convince these people of the need to remove it, would be for them to see the tree in person.
A few days later, these members of the community met with Terry and the operations manager at the school’s tree. Most of these community members were older women, who were wearing long flowing dresses. large hats and high-heeled shoes.
As Termite Terry spoke to the group, he explained that the tree had rotted out, and it was now filled with roaches. He went on to tell them that these were very large American roaches.
Terry then asked if they would allow for him to demonstrate how well these roaches could fly. Their permission was granted, so Terry then climbed up on the ladder and proceeded to spray some insecticide into the hollow tree.
Only a moment later, dozens and dozens of roaches started flying out of the tree and they headed straight toward this group of spectators. All of them panicked, turned, and started to run. The operations manager’s shiny dress shoes slipped from under his feet, and he fell. Two of the ladies also tripped and fell to the ground, as their high-heeled shoes gave way.
Terry ran over to help everyone get back on their feet, and all of them quickly left the school after that.
Needless to say, the school’s tree was removed shortly thereafter, and the school’s roach problem was solved.
Have a roach problem that you need help with? Call us at (949) 631-7348 and we’ll be happy to schedule an appointment at your convenience.
