I have recently arrived on Okina wa and am looking forward to participating in the many spring and summer activities. However, an island veteran told me to be careful of some of the bugs because they’re gigantic. I live in a very old apartment off base, and am beginning to get worried. Is he pulling my leg?
-New to the Island
As winter ends, and the weather warms on Okinawa people begin to jump when they hear the word habu. Others dread entering the seas surrounding the island because they think a 30-foot shark will immediately eat them when they step into a foot of water While snakes and sharks can be dangerous, encounters aren’t as common as many believe, and a healthy dose of caution can lessen your chances of being injured. However, the return of warm weather brings a terror that is all too real—the large, disgusting, and almost indestructible Okinawan cockroach.
Imagine, it’s four a.m. and you’re suddenly startled from sleep by the sound of your better half’s screams punctuated by sounds of mayhem. Fearing the worst, you grab the nearest heavy object and dash frantically to the clamor emanating from the kitchen with visions of burglars and Hannibal Lecter racing through your bead. As you reach the kitchen doorway, you see an object flying like a harrier jump jet make a hard 90-degree turn around the refrigerator, then accelerate towards your face like a radar-guided missile. Milliseconds before impact your brain registers the fact that the object is a flying cockroach—larger than any roach you have ever seen in your life. Immediately your own screams of terror drown out the pitiful noises coming from your spouse.
If you have lived through “the warm season” on Okinawa (usually from early March to late November), it’s possible that you have beard or even experienced a situation like this one, Hardened veterans of the tôbira (cockroach in the local dialect) wars often swap stories of their epic battles with roaches the size of Rodan (a flying monster from the Godzilla movies) and lament that defeating them is an impossible task, However, although it can seem like a hopeless undertaking, victory is attainable. Battles can be won one can of Raid at a time, but the key weapon in the war on bugs is persistence. Sprays, pellets, and roach traps (the ones roaches check into, but don’t check out of) are effective, but the methods often only succeed in giving you momentary peace of mind if used by themselves. The only true way to eliminate cockroaches from your home is diligence.
Keeping kitchen areas clear by immediately cleaning up spills and crumbs, keeping foodstuffs in sealed containers, and cleaning kitchen grease on a regular basis is a significant step (roaches also love the smell of stale coke and beer—rinse out containers before recycling them). Denying the roaches access into your home by caulking up cracks and checking door and window seals also helps. These methods, when used in combination with pest sprays that contain pyethrin and permethrin (or if pets and/or children are present, boric acid) will lead to victory in the war on bugs. However, always remember to exercise caution when using these or any other types of chemical.
If the combination of these methods doesn’t eliminate the problem, or you have a run-in with a giant wasp, the centipede that ate the Humvee, or the yellow- and-black-striped spider that ate them both, call a real professional... from a safe distance of course.
- Mike Daley
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