So here's the story. I killed a large cockroach a few weeks ago crawling on the carpet of our living room. We get these big roaches very rarely (American cockroach,aka water bugs or Palmetto bugs). Over the years, now and then,I'll find one in our basement and very rarely in our kitchen too. How they get in ? Who knows? By some pipe or crevice or tiny opening by a door looking for a water source as to why they came in so I've read. While a cockroach might startle me, the more common rogue house centipede with its 32 fast legs can scare the bejeezus out of me when I spot one or an infrequent spider and even less seen cellar spider species. Now someone suggested that the centipedes are actually beneficial in eliminating any cockroaches so I put away any glue traps for mice we haven't seen in over a decade but the glue traps have caused the demise of a centipede or two. I recently read that a gecko will eat spiders and centipedes and roaches,oh my !!! and my wife was not thrilled when I purchased a couple to roam our basement. That was a few days ago. Now, we seem to be seeing mice again in our basement and kitchen. This really terrifies my wife as she's afraid of animals. I've tried explaining a little itty bitty mouse won't hurt her but she wants the mice eliminated and said to call an exterminator or take care of the problem myself. I brought in a feral cat yesterday. My wife moved out this morning to live with our daughter in her apartment. .