Before I start, you may want to know what makes me such an expert.... Well just read
my spricket horror story here and you'll see I had one of the worst camel cricket infestations known to man and came out alive without moving out of my house (you know you've considered it). While the story-form writing may be colorful in that post, I promise it is not an exaggeration. I truly wish it was... I truly, truly do...
....Anyways, without further ado, here are the 3 best steps for getting rid of your spricket problem.
Step 1: Bug Bomb (if your problem is extreme)
If you truly have a large infestation of these spider crickets (that's one of their many disgusting names) you may need to start with a bug bomb you can find at any store that sells pest control products. It's best if you can find the main place they are coming from. For me it was in an external storage room where the dryer exhaust exited. Be warned, some will survive and scatter.
Step 2: Roach Motels (AKA Spricket Traps)
Make this step one if you are only dealing with a few sightings a week. This is truly the secret weapon. Honestly they could rename these spricket traps and it would be just as accurate. Sprickets love dark, moist places, they love to eat cardboard and they love the smell of the glue. They will flock to these things, trust me! Place them all over the place especially in dark corners.
My most successful locations where behind toilets, in laundry rooms, behind couches, in corners of the house... you can tell I had a real issue. But seriously, those seemed to be the best places to put the roach motels.
Step 3: Smash or Catch
Had to include this one just to set realistic expectations. After the initial scatter after the bomb and a week with the roach motels, your camel cricket sightings should start to be pretty rare if not completely resolved. But before that, you may have to kill or be
killed... given the heebie jeebies?
Here's a tip. These cave crickets (another nasty name) are hard to hit. They may not be able to control where they jump but they do react fast. Your going to need something long and fast. For me the best tool was a plastic kids golf club. You could hit them quickly and at a little bit of a distance before they had time to jump and brush your leg with their disgusting dense bodies.
If you're squeamish, catching might be your only option. Bowls seemed to work for me, but you have to be fast. I'd use an empty plastic snack jar like the ones used for pretzel rods for example. That way you can see what the little devil bug (might submit that as another name) is up to.
Anyone who as caught a spider knows the next step. Just slide something underneath (a thick construction paper works well) and carry it outside, drop everything on the ground and run away in a fit of panic. Easy peasy.
Prevention
The steps above got me out of a dark place so I wanted to share the light at the end of the tunnel with others in spricket purgatory. But once they're gone, hows about we make them stay gone? You should always keep some roach motels on hand. It can't hurt to always have a vacancy sign lit up for these creatures in your most vulnerable places. Basements, laundry rooms, and bathrooms are great places to just keep these around if you can find a discreet place to put them.
Aside from that I wrote up a whole post about
preventing sprickets from getting into your home so go read that and begin your path to recovery and a restful nights sleep. Good luck!
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