[Vision2020] Roaches

[Ralph Nielsen]

Cockroaches can live any place where it is warm enough for them. They  
have been around a lot longer than mere humans. When I was living in  
Edmonton AB about 50 years ago I once got a drowned cockroach in the  
neck of a bottle of wine which, of course, I had to buy at one of the  
two liquor stores serving a city of about 150,000 at the time. I  
complained about it and was given this explanation. The sherry was  
imported in bulk by the Liquor Control Board and bottled in a nice,  
warm basement in downtown Edmonton. I didn't get a refund but I was  
allowed to keep the cockroach.

The death of this cockroach by drowning in sweet wine reminded me of  
George, Duke of Clarence, brother to King Edward IV of England, who  
was said to have been drowned in a butt of Malmsey in the Tower of  
London in 1478.

But where did the cockroach come from? It's possible that it  
(Periplaneta americana) was imported to Alberta from Texas by an oil  
company. Along with the Southern Baptist religion, which now has a  
seminary in Cochrane, 25 miles west of Calgary on the Old Banff Trail.

Ralph

Sunil Ramalingam sunilramalingam at hotmail.com
Fri Feb 20 07:17:11 PST 2009

I've never seen a roach in Moscow.  This is the second time I've  
heard a roach story here, but I've still escaped them.

In Malaysia we had Periplaneta americanas, which would fly around  
outside and inside, and many other varieties. In Davis we had  
smaller, non-flying roaches, and I was relieved not to find them here.

Now I guess I had better start looking around more carefully.

Sunil
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