Roaches may not be vectors for disease, but they will still bite you. Cockroaches do not bite humans often, but under the right conditions, roaches will feast on your flesh. A cockroach’s diet includes just about anything that is small enough for them to eat. To put it simply, cockroaches eat everything. If a cockroach is hungry enough, they can even begin to blatantly nibble on people. Most of the time cockroaches are shy and elusive creatures as they are naturally afraid of humans, but a hungry cockroach will not hesitate to make itself seen.
Sometimes cockroach infestations can become so significant and large that they deplete the food that is available within their habitats. When this occurs you will want to be somewhere else as starved cockroaches will eventually turn to feeding on human toenails, eyelashes, eyebrows, hair and a flesh. Of course cockroaches will attempt to secure some other form of meat if all other forms of food, such as plants and human food-waste, are unavailable.
Finding roaches nibbling away at your fingertips may not be a common sight for most people, but for sailors, flesh-eating cockroaches are a part of life on a ship. Some sailors have taken to wearing gloves in order to protect their hands from ravenous cockroaches. Cockroaches have also been found feeding on the hair of sleeping children. Experts believe that roaches prefer to bite children because they cannot run away as quickly as adults. If that is not strange enough, cockroaches also seem to gravitate toward animal fur. Experts have noticed that cockroaches have a taste for the fur on dogs, cats and other mammalian pets. Some pet owners have reported roaches infesting their pets. In addition to all of this, cockroaches are also found consuming beer, cheese, wallpaper, postage stamps, and sewage. As far as human food goes, cockroaches seem to prefer starchy and/or moist foods, like cereals or oatmeal.
Have you ever spotted a cockroach on one of your pets?