If you’re like most people on Earth, you’ve had some encounters with pests that you’d like to forget. The one bright side: You’re not alone! Check out the stories below about pests that have outwitted or just outright scared some people. And if you’re dealing with an infestation now or want to prevent the next one, head to Orkin to get expert help! They know how to outsmart even the tricksiest of bugs and rodents. Because while pests may have teeny-tiny brains, they sure know how to evade capture.
Moving In With a Boyfriend... and a Whole Lot of Bugs
“I should have known as soon as I moved in with my boyfriend that his place was going to be trouble. When we started clearing out closet space for my items, we had MULTIPLE cockroaches fly out at us. Then the trees outside our windows, although they provided shade in the hottest months, also provided easy access for giant spiders to find ways of accessing our apartment OFTEN. Then came all the apartment remodels in our building, which somehow led to ants. THEN the worst of the worst happened: termites.
“It’d be mating season, and they would just start falling from our hallway ceiling. I would constantly need to vacuum up little termite bodies from our carpet (barf). I could see them collecting in the bowl of our old light fixture (barf x2), just waiting to hop out (barf x3). We’d have someone come to fix it, but they just returned the next year. Once, I had a friend visit, and one landed right on her shoulder (barf x10). I’d had it with the apartment!
“We eventually moved out, and I never looked back! I never had to worry about looking up at my ceiling again, either.”
—Jess R.
The Cockroach Standoff
“Once, I had a rough day and decided to take a nice late-night shower before bed. When I got out, I came face-to-face with a hideous cockroach.
“We locked eyes and froze in place. I feared one wrong move would send it flying around in a panic (which would then send me around in a panic as well). I ran in the opposite direction the same moment the cockroach made a quick 180, squeezing into an imperceptible crack in the corner wall. How did it even fit in a space that small! Those things are like magicians, I swear.
“Now, every time I get out of the shower, I look at that little hole in the wall and wonder if there’s something in there... watching... waiting. Although maybe he’s looking out of the hole thinking the same thing about me!”
—Anne F.
Popping In to Say Hi
“One day I was minding my own business, reading in bed, when I heard a strange thud noise come from the window. I got up and noticed a big pile of what looked like dirt under my windowsill — I had no idea what it was. Then, when I opened the curtain, I saw tons of dead bugs scattered on the windowsill and a hole in the ceiling. I hate bugs (especially near my bed!!), so I was FREAKED OUT!
“I called my landlord, and turns out we had termites. The pile of ‘dirt’ I saw was a bunch of wood and debris that fell from the ceiling, caused by the termites.
“Luckily, we got the problem fixed pretty quickly, but I felt icky for days.”
—Alex S.
Spiders, Spiders Everywhere
“Where I used to live, spiders were EVERYWHERE! You’d walk down the sidewalk and have a 50-50 chance of running into a dangling spiderweb. You’d look out your window onto your patio, and a spider, the size of a half-dollar, had created a web taking up the entire space. You’d get in your car, have to wipe off the webs created by the tiny spiders that lived behind your side-view mirrors, start your car, put your car in reverse and... a zoomed-in picture of a spider would appear on your backup camera.
“I don’t live in that neighborhood anymore, but anytime someone screams when they see a spider, I just chuckle. Until there are so many that they’re photobombing every picture you take, you’ve got nothing to worry about. ”
—Emily P.
A Silent Understanding
“I was lying in bed reading a classic novel (OK, probably rewatching a sitcom). I turned over to turn off my bedside light and go to sleep, only to see a little mouse standing right in the middle of my room. We stared at each other for a few moments, frozen in place, before I simply turned off the light and rolled over. I knew I wasn’t going to catch the mouse that night, and I felt like the mouse and I had a temporary agreement: You go your way and I’ll go mine.
“When my roommates and I eventually did try to get rid of our houseguest, it was not easy. We tried a million home trap ideas, including that bucket one, but the mouse was clearly smarter than us because he did not fall for it. After a long time trying, we finally caught the little bugger, and my roommate insisted on dropping him off in a field. I figured he would just end up in someone else’s house next, but I decided to respect our original agreement: He goes his way and I go mine.”
—Kirsten B.
Dealing with pests is an unfortunate part of being a homeowner, but luckily, there is a way to help prevent them: Orkin!
Orkin has been in the bug-busting business for over a century, so their experts know how to outsmart them all!
Not only do these experts go through 160 hours of training on all sorts of pests, from roaches to rats to spiders, but there are also Orkin offices around the country, so they understand the local environments too.
And because the folks at Orkin care so much about customer happiness, they have the Orkin Guarantee: Customers who are not satisfied in 30 days get their money back!
How can you avoid nightmare stories like the ones above? Head to Orkin to learn about how the Orkin Pros outsmart pests.
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.