Where was the place that you rented. In my twenty years as a Temeculan I’ve lived in 7 places and have never seen a single roach. When I was younger and lived near the coast and in some apartments in college, I saw them, maybe not an infestation but they were there. From my understanding, while they are practically invincible, they can only live 10 days without water (and 10 days without a head) so their one weakness is water and I think the arid climate here makes them not so prevelent.

I’ve found numerous black widows, some scorpions, a couple tarantualas, snakes, coyotes, ants and the smartest most risilent gophers on the planet, but no roaches or termites (I’ve never seen a house tented locally). So I would file that under the “scardey’s long list of irrational fears.”

If you do find yourself needing pest control services, vineyard valley pest control is my favorite, hands down. A locally owned outfit that is a little on the environmentally conscious side but they are good and they know their stuff. The only time I ever had ants was during the times when I switched to a cheaper pest control company or tried it on my own, always ended up going back.

Since I’m ranting about the gophers, I’ve tried everything and have not caught a single one, they have a logistical advantage as there is a fenced in, multi acre hoa owned hillside desending down from right behind my place so I cannot bring in a predator or flush them out with water. I’m convinced they eat the poison pellets as an appetizer, they trigger the traps without getting stuck in them, I am just going to give up. Can you buy gopher snakes and just release them into the holes? Since you are fearful of zombies, you can have my gophers because zombies are no match for my gophers.