Not So Good...

Discussion in 'Prime Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by mr88cet, Jul 12, 2017.

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  1. mr88cet

    mr88cet Senior Member

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    Well now, I had me an "interesting" commute into work this morning in my lovely new Prius Prime:

    I was on DRCC (thankfully!) at moderate and varying speed with cars around me, and when I looked up at the rear-view mirror, I saw something I reeeeeeally didn't want to see: A large cockroach on the top surface of the mirror case!

    After the surprise settled in, I searched for anything in the cabin I could use to swat it without causing an accident. I tried with a tissue, but it disappeared into the gap between the camera and the headliner. Pushing up on the headliner, I noticed that there is some play in that, so pretty good chance it's creating a nest under the headliner!

    That's bad! That's really bad...

    So, I took a detour to the HEB grocery store near the office, and bought a set of "large cockroach" bait traps. Upon looking at them though, well, I'm not sure what state they had in mind when they called these "large cockroach" traps, but it definitely wasn't Texas! This thing was like 1.25-1.5 inches long! Not having any scissors or a knife in the car, I had to pop into the office to cut the ports a bit bigger:
    IMG_6529.JPG

    I placed the bait trap atop the mirror, and I saw an antenna poking down toward it, so apparently it ... at least attracted the nasty varmint!

    But this is intended to sit on a flat surface, so that it can walk into the side. Hmmm... I decided to create a platform from the box:
    IMG_6531.JPG

    It then occurred to me that it conceptually could just walk in from the ceiling, so I attached one to the sunglass holder: IMG_6532.JPG

    I also put a few others in the area, like on top of the dashboard.

    I also promptly dumped the car trash can!

    Dang, I hope one of them works!


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    #1 mr88cet, Jul 12, 2017
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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    amazing you could post all this, took me an hour just to get on and reply.
     
    #2 bisco, Jul 12, 2017
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  3. MNdriver

    MNdriver Senior Member

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    rattlesnakes, giant cockroaches - you guys are freaking me out. Hope there are never any critters in my car other than this one that hangs out on the back seat:

    SheldonSmile.JPG

    And by the way, the Prime has handy backseat rings, meant for car seats, that are great for hooking up furkids so they don't go flying out the window.
     
    #3 MNdriver, Jul 12, 2017
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  4. mr88cet

    mr88cet Senior Member

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    I'm all in favor of that kind of critter in your P.Prime! I'll pass on our cat though (claws + new upholstery = evil!)


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    #4 mr88cet, Jul 12, 2017
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  5. mr88cet

    mr88cet Senior Member

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    I was just thinking: Maybe a simpler approach might be to cut apart one of the traps and smear some of the bait in that area in general. That way, I'll know at least that they can get to it...


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    #5 mr88cet, Jul 12, 2017
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  6. NJ-PrimeAdvanced

    NJ-PrimeAdvanced Member

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    Woah, how did the cockroach get into your car in the first place? at the factory or in your garage during door opening, but then can these things jump in?
     
    #6 NJ-PrimeAdvanced, Jul 12, 2017
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  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    when i was in a houston hotel, there was a big sign on each door to check for cockroaches (they had a funny french name for them) before opening the door to your room. i never saw one.
     
    #7 bisco, Jul 12, 2017
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  8. mr88cet

    mr88cet Senior Member

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    Yeah... Really good question there... Not likely from the factory, I'm thinking. I haven't seen many in the house recently, let alone in any car I can recall driving, let alone a new car...

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    #8 mr88cet, Jul 12, 2017
  9. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Sounds like a port option. Given SouthEastern Toyota Region, I would expect to find 'road kill' in the car.

    Bob Wilson
     
    #9 bwilson4web, Jul 12, 2017
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  10. mr88cet

    mr88cet Senior Member

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    Supposedly, back in the '80s, The State of Texas ran contest to for what slogan to put on Texas license plates... Texas: The Lone Star State. Texas: The Bluebonnet State. But the one that got the most attention, I'm told was Texas: The Roadkill State! I gather they didn't stick with any one slogan...

    Just FWIW, East Texas is fairly "Southern" (LA,AR,etc.), West Texas is much more Southwestern (AZ/NM), and the rest is hard to put into either of those baskets. Central Texas has a lot of German and Czech influence, for example. Lots of Hispanic influence throughout, not surprisingly.

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    #10 mr88cet, Jul 12, 2017
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  11. JamesBurke

    JamesBurke Senior Member

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    The World’s Most Despicable Bug

    article from 1976.

    The next most common cockroach in Texas is Penplaneta amencana, the “American” cockroach. These are the man-eating ones. They are big, reddish brown, and generally found in residential kitchens. Capable of growing up to one and three-eighths inches, they are the fifth-largest species in the nation.
     
    #11 JamesBurke, Jul 12, 2017
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  12. mr88cet

    mr88cet Senior Member

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    This one was bigger and redder than the ones in that picture!

    "Nevertheless, Austin, our capital city, has gained a wide reputation as a 'capital of cockroaches.'" Hmmm... Speaking as an Austinite, that wouldn't have occurred to me. Not a whole lot of them, and about the same as Houston and Dallas where I've lived too (Dallas maybe slightly less, being a bit cooler).

    Austin likes to call itself "The Live-Music Capital of the World" (Austin City Limits and South by Southwest here annually), but I think a better appellation would be, "The Live-Allergy Capital of the World"!


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    That's what this one was...

    Definitely not the little, "German" cockroaches...


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    Not surprisingly, I'm not particularly concerned about this particular cockroach. It's her 200 children, and 40000 grandchildren I'm concerned about!


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    Being from 1976 would probably also explain why I don't recognize any newspaper called the Austin Sun. Landed here in Summer 1979, but as an Engineering student, so I didn't get a chance to pop my head up and look around until quite a few years later! Don't recall any such paper in the '80s though. Then again, I did hop off to Dallas for a short time in the late '80s. I doubt if any such paper existed in the '90s or after though.

    Anyway!


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    #12 mr88cet, Jul 12, 2017
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  13. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Speculation on my part, I wonder to what extent the 'green' interior materials might in conditions of heat and humidity become a food source for 'our little friends.'

    Bob Wilson
     
    #14 bwilson4web, Jul 12, 2017
  14. huskers

    huskers Senior Member

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    I guess everything is bigger in Texas.
     
    #14 huskers, Jul 12, 2017
  15. mr88cet

    mr88cet Senior Member

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    Perhaps a dealer option! :)


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    #15 mr88cet, Jul 12, 2017
  16. Montgomery

    Montgomery Senior Member

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    Hey, its Texas........everything is big in Texas! Didn't you know that? Cockroaches so big, they can open the doors themselves.
     
    #16 Montgomery, Jul 13, 2017
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  17. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Except when zucchini are in season and everyone locks their doors.

    Bob Wilson
     
    #17 bwilson4web, Jul 13, 2017
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  18. JamesBurke

    JamesBurke Senior Member

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    Bet the farmers insurance guy never had a cars interior eaten by cockroaches before.
    Once was surrounded by gradeschoolers and told not to give their mothers any more zucchini or else.
    Learned today that calling someone "Guy" is an insult dating back to Guy Falkes in England. Refers to poorly dressed commoners. Thank you Snapple.
     
    #18 JamesBurke, Jul 13, 2017
  19. DavidA

    DavidA Prius owner since July 2009

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    Um, yuck! So once you nab one of them varmints, please cross reference it to those found in Japan, if possible. Might have also found it's way into your car while on the transport ship.
     
    #19 DavidA, Jul 13, 2017
  20. davidtm

    davidtm Member

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    I grew up in Texas (Houston), but now live in Virginia. I'd also heard them referred to as palmetto bugs.

    HTC U11 ?
     
    #20 davidtm, Jul 13, 2017
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