Amongst its many epicurean, architectural and otherwise louche charms, New Orleans has another infamous, uncelebrated one: a problematically vibrant cockroach population. Every summer (oh, let’s be honest here: they’re here spring, summer and fall), the German brown cockroach can be seen snatching its way around your house, flitting on sidewalks at dusk, and intimidating the locals.
They fly down here in the Deep South, did you know?
One Saturday night back in August, one such creature dive-bombed into my cleavage. After one spilled G&T (Oh God, not my drink!) and many sputtered expletives, the critter was ousted and a friend graciously stomped it into a unrecognizable smear into the pavement.
And so with the impending cockroach population explosion coming any summer day now, I figure why not have a chat about what diseases they can harbor and spread on your tabletops. Hmmm? And lest you think that this article is a paean extolling their overlooked virtues – alas! – they really are as filthy as everyone thinks they are
