Comments on: The best way to kill a Parktown Prawn

By: Theano

Theano — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 13:58:15 +0000

Omg these things r sooo disgusting. I hate having 2 keep the doors closed during summer cz its hot!
I’m terrified of these thngs and the last time i tried killing it with my shoe, IT SMELT SO BAD!
#cant deal

By: sonia

sonia — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:39:21 +0000

I’m glad I came across this site but for one reason, wish I hadn’t …. Never knew they could climb onto the bed. Saw about 4 in this past week and had an encounter around 2hours ago. Was unpacking my gym bag wich I left on the floor last night and most touched the thing, immediately gave a bloody mary scream wen I realised wat it was. Mommy came n took it outside. We have a stray cat that loves to ‘blom’ by our house and I LOVE that cat, she bites their heads off. However after reading stories of the PP on ppls faces and ppl waking up to them on the bed, omw, I’m not gona sleep, feeling things on my leg (my paranoia)

By: Miguel

Miguel — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 07:54:07 +0000

We have recently moved into a new house where there is a very lush garden so needless to say we have visitors on a regular basis.Thankfully we have bought this poisionous chalk that seems to keep them out the house but there is a door that leads from the garage to the front door of the house so every time it rains we have one that gets stuck there between the steps of the garage and the door,I’m not sure if its the chalk or the fact that the PP hits a bit of a panic because it spits out that black stuff and when I see it in the morning its moving very slowly,all I do then is grab a pair of braai tongs pick it up and take it to the pool,stick it in the pool gobler and drown the bastard.I hate them.

By: CJ

CJ — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:04:35 +0000

Sunlight Liquid defnitely works to kill these crickets. If you pour the liquid over them they will die within minutes. In your garden you will find (especialy in soft humid ground) little holes which they have dug for themselves. They also need oxygen like all living creatures on this earth. You can pour sunlight liquid diluted with water into the hole, the cricket will then crawl out of the hole, whereby you can pour pure undiluted sunlight liquid over them. They will die within minutes. I tested this and it works, even in your home. Do not approach it in a aggresive manner, thats when they feel threatened. You can actually stand next to the cricket when pouring the liquid. As soon as you threaten it, it will react. They are actually very harmless and are good to have in your garden if you control their population. I am currently doing research on these insects and how to control their population as they are capable of multiplying quite rapidly. I will post more information as my research are progressing. I do not believe that killing them are the solution, but rather controlling them and assessing their role in nature. I know they are very very freaky and looks dangerous, but they are not.

By: Tirsha

Tirsha — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:37:32 +0000

I have found 3 PP`s every week since the December rains. I hate them and am terrified off them. However I am a single mum so I have no option but to get rid of these disgusting creatures myself. I actually used a grass broom by hitting and smashing it very hard and cursing at the same time. I now block all open gaps before going to bed and wear shoes when walking in the house. I acutally sprayed a whole can of hairspray on one that got into my room as throwing shoes on it did not kill it. My 2 year old son thinks this is funny. I have opted to fumugate the whole garden. I sometimes regret having a garden. By the way I moved into a new house not less than a month ago.

By: mun z

mun z — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:00:04 +0000

Get a coupla chickens in your yard.. They whack them..

By: sammi

sammi — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:42:26 +0000

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

By: Geoff

Geoff — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 21:32:16 +0000

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?

By: Wally Barber

Wally Barber — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 05:45:45 +0000

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

By: Naturteboy

Naturteboy — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 04:58:34 +0000

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.