The best way to kill a Parktown Prawn

by Nic Haralambous on 6/10/2008

Ages ago I blogged about my experiences with Parktown Prawns.

I have just approved a comment from Mike on that post that I couldn’t help but republishing.

We found out about parktown prawns the hard way. One morning, my father woke up one morning and opened his eyes to see the underneath of a large adult prawn sitting on his face. Well, let me just say that his head hit the light fitting.

Since then, I have had a few incidents. I put on shoes, tied the laces and only then did I feel something walking around on my foot. I’m so glad I wear socks with shoes.

A few days ago, I put on a pair of jeans and sat down to put my shoes on and felt a prick in the side of my leg, like a black jack or something. So I rubbed it a bit and the spikey feeling moved all the way down my leg as I prodded at it until a small parktown prawn popped out the bottom.

In the last two weeks, I have had at least one parktown prawn in my house every 2 days. I must have a nest in the garden and my stupid cats seem to enjoy bringing them in to play.

I think the best way to get rid of them is with a tennis racket, a container that can close and a brick. (This is a two man approach):
Step1:
Approach slowly with the tennis racket while your partner stands by with the container and lid.
Step 2:
Prod the prawn to make it jump.
Step 3:
When it jumps, take a full swing with the racket, if you hit it against the wall hard enough, you may knock it out temporarily.
Step 4:
Quickly, get the prawn in the container before it recovers, move fast, it does not take long.
Step 5:
Find a solid piece of ground outside, this is the messy part.
Step 6:
Shake the container rapidly to knock the prawn out and chuck it on the ground.
Step 7:
Flatten the prawn with the brick.
Step 8:
Clean up the mess before the other prawns find out.
Step 9:
Run inside and lock all the doors and windows.
Step 10:
Seek councelling..

nharalambous@gmail.com

There are 49 comments in this article:

  1. 17/10/2008claudie says:

    I absolutely hate summer because of all the goggas that come out at thi time of the year, especially parktown prawns. Can someboby please tell me how to get rid of these gross creatures. I have tried snail bait, it worked for a while but it doesn’t seem to be doing anything anymore.
    I don’t sleep at night because I fear waking up with one in my bed or on my pillow. I find that I am always tired because of not sleeping and all I hear all night is their constant noise from my garden. Please Help!!!!

  2. 28/10/2008Michelle says:

    Hi. I had my first encounter with these disgusting!!!! alien-like!!!! yucky things two nights ago and EVERY night since then. I am a single mother with a son of 6years old!!! We hardly sleep at night either. I am so afraid TERRIFIED of being confronted by these things. I also found that the only way to kill these things is by throwing something hard on it and stomping on it!!! I’m a hefty girl and this morning not even my weight helped kill it!!!! I had to actually throw a brick on top of the thing to make sure that it was DEAD!!! All I know is – I want to move from where I am staying!!!!! they are horrible scarey creatures and anybody who hasn’t experienced it wouldn’t understand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  3. 12/11/2008Kim says:

    Eeeiw! I had a 45 minute war with a Parkie this morning – horrible horrible !! Eventually, a whole tin of Doom ( a large tin) sprayed directly onto the parkie whilst it was in a small space (under the sewing table – so the gap was rather small..) and this helped kill this horrible creature! Anyone watching would have a classic for candid camera…. I dread going home – there are about 15 tupperware containers ( I don’t know why I bother with them because I cannot get close enought to put the container on top of the horrible creature!!), shoes, empty tims of Doom , Target and the like…. I can feel them all over my skin – they are my worst nightmare come true! I hate the rains because it brings these horrible things out…. I was all alone – no-one to even protect and be brave about…. so I screamed and sprayed the thing to death…… My worst nightmare may still come true – maybe when I get hiome, he is not under the sewing table… EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK !!

  4. 24/11/2008jenine says:

    Eish.. Where exactly in Jhb are these horrid things prominent. I don’t live near Jhb nor do I want to.. I’m terrified of these insects! As Kim says… a nightmare come true.. It’s boiling hot today.. yet the mere thought of them sends shivers down my spine… Please someone tell me.. If I ever visit the Lovely city of Jozi.. what areas do I avoid???????? PLEEEEEEASE!!!!!

  5. 3/02/2009Dee says:

    Hi there

    I stay on the West Rand (Honeydew Area) and we have alot of these yukky park town prawns especially when it rains. I really want to move as I cannot handle them. If there is one around, I scream for my husband to get rid of it.(the only way that seems to work (without getting goo all over u) is to take a plastic packet inside out, grab them so that they are inside the packet. Tie it tightly and throw away. They are absolutely ghastly and scare me to bits…….(they also stink quite badly..they let off a smell when threatened)…i want to move because of them..they are like aliens or something..hideous creatures!!!!

    I am going to move back to CT!!!!!!!!!! We have one in the house somewhere. They are extremely fast…one minute they are here and the next minute gone….never ever in my life have I seen such ugly things….well now u know.

  6. 9/02/2009VAUGHAN says:

    Easiest way to kill a parktown prawn is to get sunlight liquid, throw a bit over its face and the thing will suffocate, trust me tried and tested

  7. 3/11/2009Janine-Lee says:

    A can of doom does not work. I recently moved to a new area in Jhb and in my 2 years living up here I have never experienced any encounters with them until now. A can of doom does NOT work. Dyroach does seem to do the trick though. I get woken up hearing these things trying to get in after the rains. They are horrid. I dont sleep at night and I hate being at my place at night. I have an empty jar at hand with the can of Dyroach now. They die down after a few minutes. I want to move. My boyfriend has little sympathy and says I can’t let an insect dictate my sleeping hours. He sleeps like a rock and doesnt live there anyway, I need to know what can repell them. Stupid Pest Magic works for everything else except the. Please help…anyone.

  8. 5/11/2009Ruth says:

    I had an experience this morning with one on my pillow………I did a Matrix Keenanu Reeves move out the bed. I was screaming the previous night as it was in my room, I have wooden floors and you can imagine the attraction.

  9. 5/11/2009Ruth says:

    Vaughan – I see the sales curve of sunlight liquid escalating….!!!!!!!!!!!
    i will get a water gun !!

  10. 4/12/2009Lynda Bacon says:

    We live in Bromhof and have an infestation in our garden!!! Originally we were loathe to kill God’s creatures who were said to be good for the garden. The odd one or two were fine, but two nights ago killed 6 inside our house and last night our visitors discovered a nest and one brave lady just stomped on about six of them at the front gate. While enjoying the braai on the patio we could HEAR them moving amongst the plants before they decided to join us on the patio. Where the stomper was again summoned ! The hardware store has recommended Slugem, so let’s see…….

  11. 17/12/2009Tania says:

    Hi, my cat drags them into the house still alive!!! He brings them into my bedroom, and this morning one jumped onto the bed!!
    Is it the wooden floors that attract them? I had wooden floor put in 6 months ago and with all the rain lately the cat has brought about 30 into the house in the past two months!!!
    I have a mortal fear of roaches, so just imagine my fear of these things!! I even want to get rid of the cat!!!
    Apparently they kill all the cut worms and slugs in your garden, and in turn the Hadida eats them again, but they are not doing a good job of it!!! Maybe I should keep a flock of Hadida as pets?
    Please help, I am going to have a heart attack one of these days!!!

  12. 4/01/2010J says:

    You can squish them. You have to stand on them pretty hard though… and they pop. That’s pretty gross though. And then you have to clean up all the gross squishiness even if it’s outside or it stinks… horribly.

    The other way is dishwash liquid… I’m guessing this does something similar to what jik does. You can dilute it with a little bit of water and pour it on them. If you get a decent amount on it, it usually dies within seconds but it’s pretty difficult to get close enough to something that creepy looking to pour the solution on properly. I’m thinking of getting a really good water pistol so I can shoot it from a distance cos they pretty much jump straight at you… and if that works, I’m going prawn hunting.

    Here’s something scary that I’ve read though… they can lay anything between 80-200 eggs…it creeps me out just typing that.

  13. 19/01/2010Jacques says:

    If you think they only in Joburg think again .I stay in Centurion and this morning my wife alost gave me a heart attack when she came out the bathroom and one was walking towards her. I also think the only way to get rid is to chase them into a bucket and the put them on a hard surface and throw a brick on them .

  14. 19/01/2010CP says:

    Imagine my suprise when I’m sitting on the loo one day, minding my own business in the middle of doing my business when one walked past my foot …. WTF !!!! That’s shortest recorded “you know what” in history of man. Oh boy, did I have trouble stopping the unexplained diaree (LOL) We have a good laugh now … I found that throwing boiling water on them works quite well !!!

  15. 23/01/2010Anne says:

    You can’t throw bricks in the house…. I use a stack of old magazines (about 6 of them) that I lift as high as I can, wait for it to get away from the wall and then throw down with all my might. The size of the magazines makes it easier not to miss and only once was it not completely dead when I missed half of the body. Also, if you leave the magazines there for a day or three it’s sort of easier to clean and I haven’t smelled anything yet. But I will try the sunlight (and jik just in case) in the water pistol – should be less messy. O yes, my two cats, two small dogs and 33kg Labrador are also scared of them…..

  16. 25/01/2010Janice says:

    Aha! I have finally figured out a way to get rid of the damn things. I’ve trained my Daxie to catch them – he savours pulling them apart limb by limb. If anyone out there has a dog training school – here’s something useful you can train dogs to do – go get ‘em!!

  17. 26/01/2010Livio says:

    Solutions to Get Rid of Parktown Prawns:

    These creatures love damp and wet areas where moss grows and where there are lush vegetation of plants. After the rain, most gardens become wet and this is when you are most vulnerable to find one of these PP in your house. Here’s what to do:
    1) Use BLUE DEATH insect killer powder, and lavishly pour it at the entrances of your door, this immediately repels them, but be generous and careful that your cat does not walk on the BlueDeath powder. This protects the home entrances form other insects such as spiders and roaches. Last night I applied some at my door and there was one large Parky Prawn waiting and as soon as I threw Blue death on it, it immediately jumped into the fishpond.

    2) Apply sunlight liquid on it if you encountered by a Parky prawn. Sand far, aim carefully and squirt / shoot at the parky that will immediately jump.

    3) Cut tall grass and lawn as these buggers loves to hide in your gardens and come out at night. Dilute sunlight liquid in a bucket of hot water and be generous with enough sunlight and make a thick foam bucket of water and pour it outside your entrances to prevent them from coming

    Hope this was helpful and let me know if you were successful.
    Livio

  18. 19/10/2010Michelle says:

    I encountered a PP for the first time last night. I stay in a little garden cottage in Dunvegan, the door to the bathroom is one of those hideous plastic sliding doors that folds up like a concertina. It was 10:30pm I was all alone and I heard this scratching noise in the bathroom, the door was closed, then I heard jumping all over the bathroom, then the scratching on the base of the plastic door again, after about 30 min of this I saw 3 claws poke out the bottom. By this time I had worked myself up into quite a frenzy, I lost the plot and had a full blown panic attack. Might I add, I am currently suffering from PTSD after a car accident a few weeks ago so this experience didn’t do me any favours! I sprayed a whole can of Doom at the base of the door but obviously that didn’t work. I eventually called my boyfriend and he came over and killed it, it was massive about 10cm. I haven’t slept all night and im terrified to go back home tonight. I keep on hearing that scratching sound, im so freaked out! I now feel like I have PTSD on steroids!

  19. 19/10/2010Kurt says:

    Was ironing the other day.I noticed a strange brown looking thing under a chair in the room.I kinda figured it might be a sweet wrapper.As i went closer i noticed it was a PP.I froze because i have a phobia for insects with large hind legs.It seemed dead at the time, because it wasnt moving & it was laying on its side.I called my friend to discard it.He decided to use sum tissue and a dustpan,As he tried to sweep it into the dustpan, it started moving.I left a trail of dust running saying KILL IT KILL IT!!!!My friend ran with it held down in the dustpan…He disposed of it in big black bins outside, not killing it…I have done a lot of research about these creatures, & yeah its true the rains tend to activate them out of their cryostatis.There was none during the winter, but as soon as the rains started last week,…Voila here I am!!!!….Where we live we have excellent suitable habitat for these creatures,lush moist bush,swimming pools,pot plants & a large water pond…..Its like a Parktown Prawn Holiday Resort

  20. 31/10/2010Glenda says:

    Unintentional Suicide

    This morning at round about 05:00 am, I woke up to the sound of something hitting/scratching against my wooden desk. I first thought it was a rat gnawing at my desk but then I realised it was that BIG, DISGUSTING thing they call a Parktown Prawn. I could actually hear it coming towards me so I hopped out of bed and ran to the other bedroom hoping to find refuge…….But to my surprise, the PP had actually followed me to the other bedroom. When I saw it, I almost had a freak attack, and threw a newspaper at it….missing horribly. It went under the bed and away from me, thank the Lord. I moved back to my bed hoping I could catch up on some Zs (sleep); until I heard more scratching against my desk. I finally knew the real meaning of element of surprise. I was having a shit fit questioning how there could have been two of these gastly looking creatures in my room. It then moved to the metal cabinet that is on the otherside of my room. I don’t know what it was doing but it seemed to be trying to get under the metal cabinet. It was bashing itself against the metal cabinet and I can tell you now its not the nicest sound to hear when you still have sleep in your eyes. Its a good thing I couldn’t see it. I decided I couldn’t take anymore and ran out my room. I decided it was time to call my Mommy:) When we got back into my room, guess what I saw….a half dead PP on my floor. My mom asked what I had done to it and I said nothing….which was the truth.
    I think it commited suicide unintentionally by trying to sqeeze under the cabinet. We never were able to find the other one but I’m hoping it saw the sight of its friend half dead and ran for its life.

    I think I’ll try that dishwashing liquid thing. Most probably it will be quite soon since a thunderstorm is starting.
    Thanks for the tips :)

  21. 3/11/2010Bonnie says:

    I have regular encounters with these out of space creatures, I have heard that windowlene kills them too, best way though is get your partner to remove and stomp on them… I know they are attracted to dog food so keep your’e dog food in a sealed container also of course the rains (nuffing we can do about that) I found one in my dirty laundry shrivelled up and dead YUCK!! I make sure everyday I shake my shoes out as my son of 5 had one in his shoe the other day, I shake out the washing, check the cats are locked in at night so I don’t get a surprise at 3am in the morning. Gee all the precautions but worth it….

    And to Wits – It’s all your fault we have these creatures DAMN YOU!!!

  22. 8/11/2010Lyn says:

    Well, these little psychological thrillers are driving me a little nuts! I’ve only had 5 visitors in the last three weeks, but three weeks ago was the first time I have ever seen one in my life! My six year old daughter and I trapped our first intruder under a clear plastic jug… moved him outside, placed a brick on top and there he stayed… I had no idea what the heck it was and wasn’t going to try relocate the Maltese Poodle sized cricket! 6 days later… Bob died, shame, after a very short memorial, he was disposed of.

    We have since had a few more, my cats don’t seem too interested in bringing them or taking them out! Some training required there!! (Working on it) But I have discovered that Mortein’s cockroach spray, the one that claims to kill their eggs too… kills a non-lemon butter prawn in 10 seconds! Three left us that way! I am ashamed to say the fifth was release to the wild as I would not bring myself to squash that thing on my floor and there was no ways any of that was getting on my shoe!!! I prefer the NON-SPLAT approach to eradication! I will be attempting the Sunlight, if he’s in the kitchen… otherwise… Mortein here we come!

    Lest we not fear these creatures… hahaha… and try not lose sleep! They only bugs for goodness sake… by 6 year old is still sleeping soundly, it hasn’t occurred to her yet that the can probably climb stairs… and I’m not going to be letting her know any time soon!

  23. 9/11/2010sue says:

    Best way I’ve found to kill them is to suck them into a powerful vacuum cleaner – the one with the long hose extension (wet/dry type) then leave the suction on for a while and spray some insect killer down the tube.

    They “escape” quickly because they always try to climb something if there is danger on the floor, so you might find they zoom up the curtain or chair arm.

    I’m also trying that ant and cockroach chalk that you can get at Pick n Pay for R15 – works like a charm to keep ants out so maybe it will work on these horrid things too..

  24. 9/11/2010Shannon says:

    E.T PP’s i tell you! These “things” seem to love my room…every time we get one coming into our house it seems to be making its way to my room…i to use the brick technique!! but we are going to buy dishwasher and blue death specially for our unwelcomed guests!!

  25. 13/11/2010Hennie says:

    During the rainy season we find at least 3 of them in the house each week. (West rand)
    The thing that scares me the most is the surprise element. I get a little heart attack each time my wife or kids scream, or when the buggers walk over your feet when I’m watching tv.
    At least removing them from the house is easy. We call in our Scottish terrier, and shout “get him boy!”
    He grabs it and takes it outside. He then plays with the ugly intruder until it is missing to many legs to put on a fight!

  26. 17/11/2010Fiks says:

    I have recently relocated to Jhb from Cpt. I have moved to the West Rand recently. I am a guy and have a phobia and strong hate towards insects. This creature really got me scared the first time I saw it. I still struggle getting myself to stomp it. Last time i saw it outside making its way to my door. I managed to stomp it to bits. The following morning, it was gone. I found another one this morning and it crawled underneath my bed. It’s like it fell out of the wardrobe. Thanks for the tips. I will be buying much of Blue Death and Sunlight as this thing seems like a summer bugger. Yucky!

    PS! I thought I was the only one suffering of this.

  27. 22/11/2010Reinette says:

    I moved in a new place (Sunward Park Boksburg) and while unpacking on Thursday had a histerical daughter screaming about this monster bug in her room. At first I thought “ag ja drama queen” but omw can’t remember when last I was so scared of a bug. Being a widow the task of killing this horrible thing rested on my shoulders. Grabbed an ice cream bowl, trapped it in there and sello taped it shut. The girls did not kill it the next day, no they felt sorry for it and released it in the bush. Duh they definately did not know what we were dealing with.

    So friday my gardner tells me my garden is full of these things. The past weekend I had a horrifying daily encounter with these monsters, I have this constant fear of meeting my next one. Just this morning I decided no more Mrs. Nice guy. I boiled the kettle and poured boiling water in the container in which I caught this mornings one that was harrasing me in my bathroom. But now after reading this comments I hope that it was killed and that it didn’t pretend to be dead, because I chukked it in the outside dustbin.

    Can somebody please advice what I can put in my garden to kill these things, I can not put poison out as I have a Yorkie and are scared that she will be killed in the process. will also try the sunlight liquid inside the house.

    Hopefully I will be able to sleep tonight.

  28. 22/11/2010Brenda says:

    Is Slug-Em still available on the market? I used it many years ago to control the prawn population in my garden – at one stage it was like a highway across the pavement from the garden towards the house. One prawn after the other – screaming girls, macho boys (many boys ended up screaming with the girls) and Slug-Em did do its job, often in the mornings I would wake up and find carcasses outside around the house – the most I counted in one morning was 11! The prawns did not disappear totally but their numbers reduced dramatically and we were “lucky” to find maybe 4 in a season. However, 2010 has brought them back in numbers (last night we had to terminate 8 of them). I don’t seem to find Slug-Em in the main supermarkets. Are we able to purchase this product elsewhere, like nurseries? I have two cats and three dogs and Slug-Em did nothing to them, they weren’t really interested in the reddish pellets thrown into the garden, so I am all for using it again. It is definately effective and not as messy as the “brick method”! :)

  29. 24/11/2010Mad Matt says:

    I moved to Mafikeng in the early 90’s. I remember one summer, probably 93, there was swarms of prawn-like crickets. They were the same size and shape, but instead of the usual red and orange, they were a greyish purple colour. Now Mafikeng is far far dryer than Joburg, and I would assume unsuitable to the prawns need for moist burrowable soil. Me and my brother collectd about 20 and put them in a large fish tank with sand, rocks etc. Despite putting dog-food, water and vegetable matter for them to eat, they still mainly ate each other, and by the end of the week, they were half as many as they were, and all had half eaten or missing legs. Have never seen one since then…

  30. 2/12/2010Samantha says:

    I recently moved into a new house. I have two cats. The female is quite frisky. Three nights ago my little cat brought in a LARGE parktown prawn. This thing was big and I screamed so loudly. It was quite dosile as my cat was having a great time knocking it about. I got an A4 piece of mail (still in its plastic) and scooted the thing outside.

    The next night, guess what the cat brought in… The Parktown prawn!!!!
    I think it was the same one as it too was quite dosile. So I got the mail and scooted it outside.

    This morning I woke up and came down the stairs. and the poor thing was lying on the tiles, half dead.

    I felt sorry for it.

    I did some research on them today and came across these comments on how to kill them and I am now feeling sad for them. Yes they are Disgusting and Gross and they give me the eebiegeebies, but you can just scoot them out the house. There is no need to torture the poor creatures!!!

  31. 4/12/2010Maritza says:

    Hi Samantha,

    I just read your comment, The thing is, if you just scoop them out, it will come back!!!!
    Kill the damn thing, i use to have them, but got someone to fumigate my house..

    Now i get more time to spend with my husband because we don’t have uninvited geusts..

    Enjoy yours,

    Im done with mine…

    Goodluck
    Maritza

  32. 14/12/2010Brenda says:

    Am in total agreement with Maritza…happy when the prawns are not near my home! Whoever wants them can take them with pleasure!

  33. 18/12/2010J says:

    I had a meeting last night with two “parktown prawns”! (I think they were lovers)
    They are awefull creatures.

    It took me 30 Minutes to get rid of the damn things – the one tried to attack me when I started to spray it with doom – the other one made a run for the window and escaped.
    The one left behind – got to read a few cosmo magazines – I threw cosmo’s at it- and it just did not want to die!!! Eventually I took about 20 magazines and at once dropped it on my friend!!!
    I was horrified – I cried!

    Do not – I repeat; do not scoop them out of the house – KILL THEM!!!!!

  34. 12/01/2011lizel says:

    We’re 3 ladies living together without manly supervision;)we have a labby, Strauss. Strauss is our PP hero:)he has saved all of us from many, many disgusting critters. Dogs are ideal for the task:)

  35. 17/01/2011johnny says:

    The best way to get rid of a Parktown Prawn is not to whack it with a tennis racket. Part of the defense mechanism of the insect is to squirt faeces at you and as most have you have found out crushing these things leaves a smell that hangs round for days. Best approach is ‘capture and release’.

    1) Get a large coffee or mayonnaise jar with a lid and a piece of cardboard.
    2) Approach the thing from behind (they are quite slow when big)
    3) Trap it with the jar (The squirted faeces doesn’t stink its in the bottle). hold the jar it will try to free itself and I had one that knocked over a 750g jar once.
    4) Slide the cardboard under the jar.
    5) Tip the jar upside down and quickly put the lid on the jar
    6) Not suggested (chase the wife round the house with the jar).
    7) Post it on U Tube
    8) Empty the Parktown Prawn in the garden or your neighbors yard.

    This method has worked for me for a long time. I cant stand the smell it hangs for days. You can read up on the King Cricket at a few websites they can get massive. They eat all sorts of junk at a ferocious rate I have even seen them eat cigarette butts at lightning speed.

    They just making their way in the world so I guess its good Karma to let them go.

  36. 17/01/2011Silvia says:

    Just found 1… on my neck… I’m still in shock… Gosh I really want to get rid of them FOREVER… anyone PLEASSSSSSSSSSSEEEEE

  37. 17/02/2011Ellena says:

    I thought i have only this problem, they are horrible, and they in my house, i want to muve out next months but still need stay there for 14 days and how i dont know, i am so scared go to home,
    my house have to many of them, and when i see it i cant muve so scared, they freek me out. is horrible, how can kill thwm all same time???? without been neur them???

  38. 17/02/2011Ellena says:

    yes and i tryed the blue death and the other poison, and pest control was in my house…. notthing work………..:((((((((((((((((

  39. 21/02/2011Janine says:

    I’m also freaked out! Live on the West Rand. These PP things are dead scary. Doom, Target, Baygone, etc and more ( all three tins at the same time) do not kill them easily – it takes at least 12 – 14 hours to kill one but the next day the partner is here to take it’s place. My observation is that they arrive in families. Kill one and another is here tomorrow to scare you to death. Parktown Prawns moved from Parkown to West Rand,they’ve arrived big time. After reading all this, I realize that the only way is to stand together and to squash them. God help me. Not sure I can be so cruel but been studying them for a while now. They are not nice creatures. Hope someone, somewhere can tell me what use they are to mankind?
    The only advantage I’ve read is that they get rid of snails. I would rather have the snails. These PP’s are as bad as snakes and they are very resilient. I dont think they li’ke humans any more than we like them. Let’s just kill them one by one, then our kids wont have to deal with them as we have to.

  40. 15/03/2011Riaan says:

    We’re staying in Roodekrans, West Rand. For the past week, we have found at least 2 of em per day! Today I had to kill two already! (And it’s only 10am!) I’m really tired of them and are going to try blue death and sunlight in a spray bottle. Going to the store right now!

    I’ll also ask the gardener on Thursday he must look for them in the garden so we can put poison at the nest. 80-200 eggs!!! I do not want to keep a single one alive that’ll bring another 80 into the house!

    I have 2x English Bulldogs and will make sure not to put any poison where they can reach it.

  41. 21/03/2011Kate Boddington says:

    Dear All

    I’m intrigued by this thread about Parktown Prawns, I’m based in the UK so we don’t get them over here and I’m currently researching for an Animal Planet series about infestations.

    These creatures sound curious to me and we are looking for case studies of extraordinary infestations and it certainly sounds like the Parktown Prawn could be a contender!

    Would anyone be interested in chatting to me about their experiences?

    Do get in touch on kate.boddington@darlowsmithson.com

    Thanks

    Kate

  42. 23/03/2011SANDRA says:

    It’s the most disgusting creature I have ever come across. Not only do the take over your privacy, but they still have the audacity to turn and confront you. I have several articles; unfortunately none inform us how to get rid of such a creature.
    My experiences thus far seem to be the easiest, in how to kill a PP.
    • Get yourself a / few bottles of dishwasher (sunlight preferably) and have it around your house.
    • If you come across one or more, from a distance just squirt, enough to slow them down or from jumping.
    • Switch on the kettle or get someone to help you, while you keep an eye on this famous creature.
    • Once the water is hot / boiled, just simply throw over it.
    The sunlight is just a way to slow them down, in order to throw the hot water. Trust me it works like a bomb. They die immediately and no mess or fuss from their side.

  43. 5/04/2011She’s been living in a Parktown lawn – Rob in South Africa says:

    [...] did happen. It involved a lot of nervy waiting (according to one guy the best way to kill them is with a tennis racquet) to see what the thing would do, as Wikipedia told me it has the following [...]

  44. 6/04/2011Malcom says:

    Ok a method that has worked quite well for me…. Coke bottle trap and Doom (the Doom seems to work in the closed space of the trap)

    Ok so cut the top of the bottle off about 1 or 2 cm before it the cone part ends. Find something tasty for the prawn (anything basically but they love bones or meat leftovers, something smelly) and put it into the bottle. Put the top back into the bottle reversed so it makes a funnel for the bastard to climb in. Angle the cone so the opening is right against the side. Tape together firmly.

    Most important the trap must lie so that the opening is as high as possible to help prevent it climbing out (happens sometimes, they are actually intelligent aliens). Tape some paper on the “ramp” up to the hole so they dont slip on the plastic and can climb up and into the bottle. Now dribble a bit of food or scent on the paper to attract them up it.

    Ok so trap ready to go, lay it on its side against a wall as they always stick to the walls. Make sure its lying with the opening at the top, logical I think.

    Wait untill you see your target is inside and trapped. Now put the bottle upright and give a good solid 5 second spray of Doom into the bottle. WARNING it will go crazy!! now is when you pray it doesnt find the hole, you might want to plug it with something. After 10 min or so it should be dead, if not give it more Doom to suck on.

    Good luck, I am glad I dont have to deal with these nightmares anymore!!!!!

  45. 12/04/2011Vanessa says:

    Hi,
    Loved the blog, if you come up with a plan to kill these things that I can do on my own please let me know. My cat brings them into the house, love my cat so getting rid of cat isn’t an option.

  46. 11/11/2011Naturteboy says:

    Hi
    they are harless, packed with protene actualy. You can eat them. Just burst open the outside and them suck the black stuff out. It tasts like marmite.

  47. 12/11/2011Wally Barber says:

    Although the Parktown Prawn is not pleasant looking, it is a docile, harmless creature, and extremely beneficial to have in your garden, it eats snails and dying vegetable matter. I have also never heard of any person being bitten by this very useful creature.
    It is very unlikely that the cat would bring them in because when a cat tries to catch them or pick them up they will spray a horrible tasting black fecal liquid into the cats mouth and the cat will let it go. Chickens don’t even eat them because of the spray.
    Parktown Prawns can climb walls, and they will enter any gap under a door or open window. They are mostly active at night and come in in their search for food.
    The best method of keeping them out of the house is to make sure there are no gaps under your doors where they can get in. If they do get in just take a bottle and calmly place the bottle over them, they are slow moving creatures if they are not scared but can jump and run if threatend, once under the bottle slide a piece of cardboard under the bottle and you can take it outside again.
    Avoid having things lying around the garden where they can crawl under during the day, especially in damp places. They burrow under the ground and breed there so a well kept garden with little place to hide during the day would keep numbers down to a minimum.
    Parktown Prawns are very beneficial to the enviroment, don’t kill them, rather place them in a bottle and take them away from your property. They will also attract the Hadida bird to your garden.
    Best regards,
    Wally Barber

  48. 20/11/2011Geoff says:

    Tonight when I turned around in my chair a PP was approaching my shoe, so I instinctively stomped on it. Its guts burst open and within 30 seconds, thin 1 to 1.5 mm diameter tubes started to unfold from its stomach. I thought it was intestines, but the tubes continued to get longer even though I couldn’t see the ends. After a minute or two the ends of these tubes appeared and it was clear that they were some sort of worms. Two complete worms slithered out of the PP and began to writhe on the ground. I have taken a photo of the worms and I have placed them in a sealed bottle. One was at least 250mm long and the other slightly thinner one about 200mm.

    I can not believe that these “parasites” were inside the PP as there could not be enough space for them and still leave enough goo from the squashed guts. This is so creepy and confirms that these insects are straight from a science fiction horror movie, the creepy crawly from Hell.

    Does anyone know what the parasite worms could be and has anyone ever seen this before?

  49. 7/12/2011sammi says:

    Oh my soul! I hate parkies!

    I had one in my room the other night and before we could catch it it climbed into a gap btween my woodem flooring and the wall. Needless to say I vacated my room for the night. Sigh. It was a wasted effort though, since another one decided to join me in the other room, on the bed at 02:00! Worst night ever!

    A couple of days ago another one climbed into the gap. I taped it in with masking tape so it couldn’t come out and torment me. This might seem cruel, but I was suffering from sleep-deprivation and I really do hate them.

    Its kind of funny, I suspect there might be one in my room at this very moment. I can’t seem to find it, but I definitely heard SOMETHING and the dog isn’t interested in helping *rolls eyes*. Let’s hope its just some other little bug, like a christmas beetle or a moth or something like that

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