Cockroaches

For several months now, ever since I moved into my new home, I've transformed into a cold-blooded killer. Without mercy, whenever and wherever I see them, my killer instinct awakens. I will cruelly eliminate them and their entire family. From the old and frail to the mere infants. There is not an ounce of pity in my mind. For me, there is no forgiveness for them! They must be eradicated and wiped off the face of the earth, especially from my house! The cruel treatment I inflict upon them is not without reason. For they have greatly disturbed the peace and tranquility of my life. Once, as I was sound asleep one night, I felt something crawling on my body, moving towards my neck, then my hair. I jolted awake and shrieked in horror. Roughly, I spontaneously brushed the creature out of my hair. A feeling of disgust made me shudder when I realized that the impudent creature that had been crawling on my body was a cockroach! Nevertheless, I felt satisfied because, due to my recent swipe, it fell onto its back on the floor. Disgustedly, I watched its six serrated legs writhing in the air. I was still furious because of its insolence, which had disturbed my sleep. Annoyed, I got up, grabbed a bottle of insect spray, and without an ounce of pity, I sprayed a lot of the liquid from that bottle all over its disgusting body. And such incidents haven't happened to me just once. Many other irritating incidents have been caused by the presence of cockroaches. They have made me sick and unable to tolerate those six-legged, winged creatures any longer. Even though I've tried my best to clean my house, they don't care and still come to freely make a mess. Therefore, whenever they appear in my house, they will immediately end up as lifeless creatures. Most often, they show up in my house's toilet. Perhaps I wouldn't ignore them if they didn't first bother me by crawling on my legs or flying and landing on my body. Ewww... Truly disgusting. If that happens, I will immediately destroy them, and they will end up submerged in the toilet bowl. Sometimes I wonder to myself, why did ALLAH (God) actually create such disgusting creatures as cockroaches? In the wild, cockroaches might become food for birds, but what about cockroaches inside a house? Most often, they will be killed by the residents who are disturbed by their presence. Such thoughts made me decide to search for information about cockroaches on Google. In my heart, I believe that ALLAH never creates a creature in vain; it's just that humans often fail to understand its purpose. The result, Masya ALLAH (God has willed it), was quite a lot of unexpected information about the creature called a cockroach. This living creature, which belongs to the insecta class, often called 'lipas' or 'coro' (other Indonesian terms for cockroach), has apparently existed for 300 million years, and even when the dinosaur family began to die out, this animal continued to survive until today. This animal is very often considered disgusting by many people because of its appearance. Cockroaches are found in almost all parts of the world except in polar regions. Cockroaches have a radar that can detect fear experienced by people around them. Therefore, an amazing form of defense reaction possessed by cockroaches is to cling to objects that are afraid of them. So don't be surprised when you feel scared of a cockroach; the cockroach will impudently try to scare you even more. So don't let cockroaches scare you, okay? Hehehe.... Biologists estimate that if there were a nuclear bomb attack on Earth, cockroaches would be one of the creatures that would survive and continue to exist in the face of such a disaster. Oh, cool! Without us realizing it, cockroaches are actually one of the biggest contributors to global warming. Other major contributors are termites and cows. Studies show that cockroaches fart on average every 15 minutes, and even after death, they continue to release methane for up to 18 hours. Hmm, truly unexpected, right? Cockroaches are very fast. Research shows that the fastest American cockroach recorded approached 2 miles per hour (75 cm per second). Cockroaches can live without a head for a month. Until eventually, they start to die from starvation. Cockroaches do not need a head to breathe, as they breathe through ventilators throughout their bodies, and the brain does not control this function. Losing their head does not make them lose blood like us, because insects do not have blood pressure like mammals. As cold-blooded animals, a little food can sustain them for a full month. Therefore, a headless cockroach can survive for quite a long time. This animal can also cause asthma. Droppings and fragments from dead cockroaches can turn into dust and enter the bronchial tubes, which can trigger a bronchial allergic reaction, also known as asthma. Wow, we need to be careful. If there's a dead cockroach, it needs to be disposed of quickly. If necessary, wrap it first before throwing it away. Use plastic for wrapping, not gift wrap. Hehehe.... In the wild, cockroaches become prey for predators such as birds, small mammals, and amphibians. Cockroaches have a strong shield on their backs, which makes them not easily killed by being hit. So, for your information, don't think a cockroach dies instantly when hit. A few minutes later, that cockroach will start walking again and run off somewhere. So don't be offended if you fall victim to a cockroach's deception. Hehehe.... For greater safety, I recommend using insect killer spray if you want to kill cockroaches. In terms of reproduction, the German cockroach (Blattella germanica) is the most common cockroach pest, with a life cycle of about 100 days, and they live for about 6 months. The female can produce 6-8 egg cases during her 6-month lifespan, resulting in 180-320 new cockroaches. If only 10 of her offspring become fertile females, and that's a small estimate, the number could be more than 100, leading to thousands of cockroaches in just a few months. Wow... Scary... They are omnivores that can eat feces, glue, kitchen scraps, dead organisms, including human corpses, and even their own offspring. Ewww... Cockroaches are cannibals too, huh? But is it true that the presence of cockroaches in this world is completely useless apart from being part of the food chain? Oops... Wait a minute, it turns out there are many benefits of cockroaches that we might not know about! Besides being part of the food chain, cockroaches also help clean our environment of organic debris. And most interestingly, it's said that cockroaches can be used as an indicator of cleanliness in a home. If we've cleaned the house, but cockroaches are still infesting it, believe it or not, that actually proves that our home environment is already clean. Because our house no longer provides food for them, they are forced to roam around at the risk of being seen by humans. Nevertheless, don't misunderstand that a house with many cockroaches is clean, okay? That would just be a cockroach house. And for whatever reason, I still don't like it when cockroaches roam freely in my house. Oh, by the way, in some posts, I found a simple tip that seems quite helpful in preventing cockroaches from visiting. That is, place bay leaves or garlic cloves in the corners of rooms as a natural cockroach repellent. It's pretty good, right? Besides saving money on buying insect killers, it also helps a little in protecting nature from the effects of pesticides. As pets: If keeping cats or guinea pigs has become commonplace, you might try keeping this particular animal. Yes, the insect you hate to death can be kept as a pet and bred as you please. Because genuine Madagascar cockroaches, also known as Madagascar hissing cockroaches, can be sold for Rp 12,000 per individual. Pretty good for extra pocket money, right? Hehe.... As a side dish: Yes, you read that right. Although it may seem disgusting, cockroaches actually have a high protein content. Cockroaches are even claimed to cure various diseases. Therefore, for some people in China, cockroaches become a side dish for body health. Of course, cockroaches are not eaten raw. Some are made into fried cockroaches, and some are used as an ingredient in 'peyek' (a type of crispy cracker). For me, this is really anti-mainstream. No matter how high the protein, I'd still refuse if asked to eat cockroaches. Oh, by the way, for those who might be interested, the way to cook them is to first remove all their legs and wings. Cut off the head, and make an incision in the middle of the body. Before grilling or frying, mix with onion and salt. Don't ask me about the taste, I'm just relaying the information. The rest is up to you. Heheheee.... As a makeup ingredient: As quoted from TotalBeauty, the reddish-brown American cockroach is very suitable as an ingredient for making makeup. Its super high protein content is proven to be good for the skin. Moreover, it turns out to be cheaper. So, don't be surprised if there are many makeup products with cockroach extract on the market. Well, I get goosebumps just imagining if there were a face cream made from cockroaches. Hehehe.... That concludes the review I gathered from various sources on Google about the creature called a cockroach. Hopefully, it can be a beneficial lesson for all of us. The greatest wisdom we can all take away is that life is fair. 'ALLAH creates no creature in vain.' Therefore, as humans, we should be grateful. Because even cockroaches, which we often consider disgusting, have many benefits. What about us as humans? Have we been beneficial to others? Let's all strive to be useful to our surroundings, at least within our family environment. Simple, Polite Greetings. Tuty Syahrani 24/03/2017