[Dailydrool] Blunders in Souther Living

[Esther Strom]

Zoe,

My parents and sister all live in SW Florida. I remember when they first moved, they would freak out about the palmettos. They pretty much just ignore them now - there's really no way to get rid of them. Even if you were willing to use pesticides, you'd need to respray pretty much every day. I say make friends with the bugs! Also, the geckos are cute, but harmless. The ones I've seen while visiting would probably run from a palmetto, not kill it.

I don't know about cats, but my sister's Jack Russell has eaten a number of palmettos. My sister's favorite story to tell is that one day, while walking the Terror, she was picking up a "deposit" and noticed it was moving. Apparently one of the palmettos had actually survived its trip through the canine digestive tract! Well, you know what they say about cockroaches being the only thing left after a nuclear war...

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Esther Strom
Visit my Etsy shop: http://HookedByEsther.etsy.com


----- Original Message ----

 Hi Y'All,
Fangs Mom here.  While this isn't directly Basset related I was wondering how you southern people deal with the "Palmetto bugs"/roaches without using harsh pesticides around pet food and such.  I don't have Fang but I still have Brian & Sterling, the insane kitten posse.
 
As a recent southern transplant (or carpetbagger depending on your position) I attempted to solve the problem by catching some of those geckos (all named gordon, of course) you see all over here in Florida and letting them go in the house after I saw a little roach. (And cleaning the house like the Health Inspector was coming)  All that did was result in all 4 Gordon Gecko's being caught and eaten by the boys and lovingly vomited up on my bedspread.
 
So my question is 2-fold:
1. Are there organic, pet safe roach killers out there?
2. Does it hurt a c at t if they eat and hork up a couple?
 
Thanking you in advance,
Fang's mom