Do you know that the cockroach is one of the most feared insects in the world and eradicated by the millions with heavy eco-destroying insecticides?
Killing a cockroach is killing a living being. Every existence has a reason and we should adore life in all its forms. In this post, I will take it up for this poor little bug.
Do we have valid reasons to fear the cockroach?
I honestly don’t think so but before I go into that, I want to bring some awareness to possible usefullness of this most hated bug.
Unique properties of the cockroach
Cockroaches eat almost everything. Whether it is fruit or bread, paper or glue, hair or skin flakes, leather, dead insects, you name it, they will eat it.
Cockroaches reproduce like hell and they don’t smell
How cockroaches can be useful
Cockroaches are simply amazing for composting. Composting is the transformation of organic matter into a nutrient-rich soil enhancer.
Let’s go back over the properties. They eat every possible leftover you could have, they reproduce like crazy, they don’t need maintenance and what’s more, they are very efficient in their waste elimination meaning that there are lots of nutrients in the dense and small droppings they make.
Practically, you can just throw your organic leftovers in your cockroach infested composter tank and the rest happens automatically. Every 6 months the tank must be cleaned out and you end up with a super high quality compost.
Cockroach-composting falls in the category of horticulture, composting with insects.
Here is a picture I took of cockroaches actively composting
I hear you already: But they are disgusting…
I must say it is not my favourite animal to look at, a close-up reveals some very unattractive hairy scary animal but with many people, it is much worse than that.
Katsaridaphobia (cockroach phobia)
Zillions of people suffer from katsaridaphobia or cockroach phobia, the cockroach is apparently the number one insect feared by humans.
Personally, I don’t find a good reason to fear cockroaches. They don’t carry diseases and they don’t feed on our blood or skin. They carry a lot of filth but is that a reason to fear them?
Although mosquitos are the world’s deadliest animals by carrying diseases and feeding on our blood, we don’t start screaming when we see one, do we?
Specialists examining the cockroach phobia claim it has a lot to do with the experience of the child when the mother jumps up from seeing one, a kind of generation-transfer of fear.
So think again next time you see a cockroach. Declaring war is never a solution, world peace can only manifest from local peace with your surroundings.
Take care,
bub
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