I killed a palmetto bug last night!

[KitchenWitch]

Sorry, normally I am for the human treatment of bugs, but damn, palmettoes freak me out.

[trof]

1. In New York they're R-O-A-C-H-E-S.

Here's what one guy says about them:

Odds on, if you live in South Florida, you have already encountered a Palmetto Bug or two. What are they? Simply stated, a Cockroach. But not your ordinary run of the mill cockroach. No, they are nothing like the cute little creepy crawlies you see in Orkin commercials.

For one thing, Palmetto Bugs tend to be a bit larger then your average roach. I'm not kidding when I say that I have seen them grow to three inches or more. You may think cockroaches are gross, but the experience is much more vivid when all the gory details are magnified. As if that wasn't enough, Palmetto Bugs can fly! Yes, fly. You have never been creeped out, until you see a three inch roach fly up and land on the table next to you. And it gets worse, Palmetto Bugs aren't afraid of the light. You're just as likely to encounter one during the day as at night. The last little detail to distinguish the Palmetto Bug from your average cockroach is that they are armored. Step on one and you're lucky if you get its attention. You don't even get the pleasure of squishing one.

[KitchenWitch]

2. precisely!

:puke:

[Xipe Totec]

10. They are the Chinooks of the roach winged forces n/t

[amitten]

22. Three inches? Oh, those are the regular-sized ones. The big

ones are easily four inches here in Texas.

I wish each and every one of them a slow, painful and hideous death.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. .....

:scared:

[zanne]

4. I just googled "Palmetto bug"

They do look like roaches. (Come to think of it, I've never seen a roach). The worst bug I've ever encountered was a Silverfish. (On my FACE). Ugh! It happened about 20 years ago and I still get the creeps when I think about it. I wouldn't do well in the Tropics.

[montanto]

9. ??? where do you live, antarctica???

[hfojvt]

25. close

you see the icon there. That's New Hampshire. A bit too far north for roaches. I never saw them in SD or Mn either, but they were all over my apartment in Nebraska. At least until I got a few motels and stomped the yard.

[Archae]

5. Like this cutie?

(Blast from the past!) :rofl:

[driver8]

12. If this happened to me I would sh*t my pants!!

Good thing it's never happened to me!

[LeftyMom]

6. I saw one in South Carolina once.

I was at a laundrymat (long story why) and it crawled out from under a washing machine and- I swear to the Invisible Pink Unicorn this is true- the washing machine moved.

[Bjornsdotter]

7. I believe it

...in fact I think they make saddles for those things.

Palmetto bugs my ass.....freakin' bionic cockroaches.

Cheers

[XemaSab]

21. In south carolina we had a giant dried decapitated bass head in our kitchen

not stuffed--dried, and the palmetto bugs lived in there.

We pretended not to see them.

:scared:

[Bjornsdotter]

23. oookay

...why the giant, dried, decapitated bass head? Why not the whole fish....I'll tell you why.
Those freakin' mutant cockroaches ate it.

Cheers

[XemaSab]

24. word

no really, it wasn't our trailer and we didn't ask too many questions. :P

[montanto]

8. Hooorahhh (we call em roaches here is SoCal.)

[SPKrazy]

11. It's A DAMNED COCKROACH!

stop mincing words

call it what it is!

:shrug:



craigslist

[struggle4progress]

17. I think it's actually some sort of armadillo-cockroach hybrid

[Gold Metal Flake]

13. I, too, had to Google.

I saw the thread subject and decided to finally see what a "palmetto bug" is. So I search the pix.

That's a roach. In Houston, we called them roaches or cockroach or damn cockroach or shit, there's a cockroach or (stomp!) fuckin' cockroach.

They fly. However, they lack stability when airborn and usually navigate toward the closest human-shaped object.

One day while manning the counter at a local auto parts store and looking up some parts one customer started into a sort of jig. The jig was finished with a stomp. Seems he had just dislodged what some call a palmetto bug from his jeans and painted the floor with it's vital bodily juices. Didn't even clean it up.

[Der Blaue Engel]

14. I. Found. One. Under. My. PILLOW!

I don't think I'm ever getting over that. In fact, I have an overwhelming urge to run screaming around my living room beating at my hair right now, and it was 20 years ago. THEY SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO FLY!!!!!!!!!!!

My cat is sitting up against me right now crankily flicking her tail against my back and I swear I'm going to completely lose it if she doesn't stop.

:scared: :cry: :puke: :scared: :hide:

[Left Is Write]

15. They are definitely icky.

[Digit]

16. They have these suckers that are 1 1/2 inches long here

As they walk they lumber under their own weight...that is until you start to come after them and then they run like lightning.

They SUPPOSEDLY live outside, but come indoors at certain times of the year, mostly to scare the crap out of me.

Had I known these monsters were down here, I would still be living up North!

I really am scared I will have a heart attack if one touches me, at ALL!

[XemaSab]

18. We don't have them in California

:scared:

[KitchenWitch]

19. Yes we do!

You may not have them in Northern California, but we have them down here in SoCal.

[XemaSab]

20. Not even in SoCal

Those are fucking giant gnarly roaches! :scared:

[Homer Wells]

26. In my younger days

I worked in Pest Control. I believe they are officially termed "American Cockroaches", as opposed to the smaller ones called German Cockroaches. A third type is the Oriental Cockroach; they're the ones you find in the sewers, shiny black shells, and rounder bodies.

Regardless, they are ALL nasty!!

:puke: