Is there anything wrong with taking a can of Raid down to Costa Rica?
 

I must admit that it creeps me out to think of having bugs in a hotel room. A recent trip report even mentioned roaches (which would bother me than more "exotic" bugs). Why don't people just take a can of Raid with them? Is it banned from the country? Does it hurt the environment? Are their bugs immune?

I don't mean to sound insensitive, but if I was going to chaperone a Boy Scout trip here in Texas at a location known to be "buggy", I'd bring the Raid. Can I bring it to CR?

I don't think the airlines will allow any kind of aresol cans, which is how Raid is packaged. Strange, I have never seen a roach in 15 or (or is it 16?) trips to CR. Not to say they don't have them, I've just never seen them.
Anyway, I would guess you could buy bug spray there.

1) RAID is not allowed carry on or checked baggage - period

2) Yes- spraying toxic chemicals hurts the envioronment and all the flora and fauna in said envioronment- not to mention stinking up the room for future guests. Some people are especially sensitive to chemicals and could become sick after your "treatment"

3) Costa Rica, like many developing countries has few safe ways to dispose of toxic trash (not that the US does that great of a job either)

4) Lastly- the old expression "If you can't stand the heat stay out of the kitchen " comes to mind. One of the most interesting aspects of travel for some people (me) is the unique flora and fauna in said travel location- yes this includes insects, not just the cute fuzzy mammals (BTW- what do the cute fuzzy mammals eat?) hmmmm

A can of Raid has no place at a BOY Scout trip either- bring the bug juice if you like and slather your own body please, not the air I breath.

Sorry to be so harsh but I feel very stongly that what other people spray eventually shows up in what I eat and drink

Regretfully,
GFH

PS- on our trips to CR bugs have never been a problem, more of a pleasure. The people who have the most issues with bugs are the folks who LEAVE THEIR LIGHTS, TV, ECT ON at night while they are out- wasteful use of resoures and a whole different envioronmental issue affecting us all .

Ironically we found the best hotels to have more bugs as they practiced better envionmental stewardship and did not spray chemicals willy nilly- with that said the only insects we ever saw in our rooms were ants and raid will not help with the bats and other mammals

We had our first encounter with a 2 in red/brown scorpion on Friday - a straight tequila spray nailed him.
M

Actually had a scorpion fall ON MY BED while I was napping in Drake Bay, I looked up and quickly got out of bed .
Looked closely and it was a she and she had 3 babies that fell off of her- those suckers were tiny- everything quickly died - we assumed the rafters had been treated with something but they were alive when they fell

Raid would have done no good

I always take a can of bug spray with me whenever traveling in CR or Nicaragua. but then again, I often take one with me when I go to South Carolina or Florida too. Generally speaking the bugs are not any worse than in Galveston where I'm from. In the rainforest area of CR, some of the bugs get quite large - I've had moths with wingspans of eight inches in my room and big beetles approaching 4 inches. but none of them creep me out like a speedy 3 inch roach, er I mean waterbug like common in Texas. I have actually started learning a thing or two about the insect fauna and now am finding many of these larger bugs to be quite fascinating.
But I still take a can of raid with me to spray around the bed. I hate late night surprises. You can buy bug spray nearly everywhere in CR, Baygon is the most commonly found. Better to be prepared, my boy scout training...

I'm with greenfield on this. I have seen 1 roach on my trips, and even spared his life. You are going to Costa Rica, you are going to see bugs, accept that fact. I know that Bosque del Cabo, for example, does not use any because of the damage it causes.

I have not had any trouble with bugs in my trips to Costa Rica. No cockroaches, just moths mostly and rarely in the room. I hate to think what bug spray would do to the cute geckos I did see in the rooms. It's all part of the circle of life--you need the bugs to have the other critters, if you kill one you kill them all.

I admire the desire to limit the use of insecticides, but using some permithrin around the bed or directly on intruders is not that big of a deal. ALL the hotels use insecticides quite liberally.

I found these posts quite amusing, so I thought I'd put in my 2 cents. I just got back from Costa Rica, and we had no bugs in our room (not that I could see that is). There were however geckos everywhere, but guess what? They EAT the bugs!! So I love the geckos in my room (although they can make weird sounds that keep you up sometimes). It's all part of being in a faraway exotic location. We did have little small black ants now that I think about it, but they didn't bother us the least. Have fun!

LSUsajani

Toucantango-
I can assure you that most of the hotels I patronize in central america do not spray toxic chemicals on the grounds whatsoever.

Have you ever read the warning label on a can containing pyrenthrins?

a summary- in bold as written

PRECAUTIONARY STATEMENTS
HAZARDOUS TO HUMANS AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS
Harmful if absorbed throught the skin. Avoid contact with skin or clothing. Prolonged or frequently repeated skin contact may cause allergic reactions. Avoid contamination of feed or feedstuffs.

It gets even better - for the directions it says-
FOR USE IN- Animal holding area, animal quarters, barns, beef barns, bottling plants, building housing animals or poultry, calving barns, canneries, dairy barns, dairys ,dried fruit storage areas, garbage cans, goat holding areas, grain storage, hog barns, homes, horse stables, hotels, ect ect.

In bold- DO NOT TREAT PETS WITH THIS PRODUCT (but treating animals we eat is fine??)
We call the stuff "dairy spray"- one place it is used liberally. Yummy

Of course it warns not to use the stuff when the plants are in operation or animal foods are not covered but walk into a dairy barn sometime while they are milking.

Please consider future generations when you decide to support chemical companies on your eco vacation or while at home. One person can make a difference (or a least I try to tell myself this)

BTW- I am a farm boy and work with animals for a living- I read this from a can while I typed. I am not trying to be a jerk , just inform you of what is used on your food daily

Pura Vida, GFH

Well, being from Texas, we get our share of geckos in the house, but of course, they're there by accident because there's nothing for them to eat in our house (because we have a contract with a company that uses chemicals to kill any bugs that might want to take up residence.)

I am curious as to whether any of you who are so anti-chemical live in the south - places like Texas or Florida -where the "water bugs" can be 3" long...Do you really peacefully co-exist with them in your home?

yes, I live in FL and they are called Palmetto's here. My house is not treated and the few bugs I run into I just shoo them on their way or the cats get them. I would hope a bug or two would not ruin a vacation. I don't necessarily think of FL of a eco-destination, I do think of CR as that. In a place like CR, things like pesticides have repurcusions beyond the immediate satisfaction of killing a bug.

I live in a pesticide free town , with cities all around us following the same path , so am familiar with the contraversy surrounding this issue. Raid is toxic to the envoirment , not something I would ever think to take to Costa Rica, nor would I want to breathe it in in an enclosed room .......

A pesticide free town - really? So when a house is simply overrun by roaches, do they just give the house over to the roaches, or do they bring in a bunch of cats, or what?

Most likely you aren't going to see any roaches. I did, but I brought my family to a different type of accomodation than I think you (missypie) are even thinking of going to. You will not need Raid...we barely even needed Deet for that matter.

I live in Quebec , and roaches generally do not overtake houses here ..... Has not made any headlines anyway !!!lol ... And yes , a pesticide free town , Hudson , St.Lazare , Vaudreuil-Dorion , etc.etc. The general attitude is that we care more for our health than our lawns etc. You can apply for special permits if you do have an infestation of some sort ( the town first verifies this ) . All pesticides at hardware stores are under lock and key . I think it's brilliant . Just for example a lot of snorkeling and diving spots ask you not to wear " Deet " because it is not good for the fish , coral , etc. Just a bit of trivia !! Obviously your intentions are not to wrap your room in plastic and fumigate , just a can of Raid , but I do not think you can take it on the plane anyway ....?

Within the next few years the province of Quebec hopes to have a provincal "ban" on pesticides . Probably the ill-effects are costing the healthcare system too much . Our town motto is " Pesticide Free , Naturally " .

I was thinking that the pesticide free towns had to be "up north." I wonder if any "southern" towns could go pesticide free. I guess the fire ants haven't made it up to Quebec yet.

Down here in Texas, pretty much everyone I know has a contract with an exterminator, for regular spraying inside and out. Without spraying, huge fire ant mounds form outside, making it dangerous for kids to play outside (it's like a bee sting and some people are highly allergic). Inside, we get spiders, water bugs and ants unless we spray. As I mentioned earlier, the spray doesn't kill the geckos, who have become quite common in my area in the last 5 years.

WOW Faithie- I am very impressed. I had no idea our neighbors to the north were this progressive.

Unfortunately I think it will be a long time before we pry the lawn care products and insecticides from suburban America.

Missypie I must smile - Whenever I think of suburban Texas I think of the show King of the Hill.
What would Hank, Boomhower, and Dale think if you tried to take their lawn care products and bug spray away? Might as well try and take their flag down.
Maybe this is a Texas thing, hence the sterotype in the cartoon?

Missie I do live in the south (mother state- birthplace of presidents) We do not have a contract with a pest control company despite living very close to a barn.
We also do not have the huge bugs I have seen in the deep south- especially in the old historic houses. Reguardless, most of the people I know who do live there do not spray either-mainly because of their pets and said pets alternative diets.

The people I know who do spray still have bugs- they are just usually dead or dying when you spot them.

I realize whe have strayed far from the topic of travel but since we have- How do you feel about these chemicals being used liberally on your food sources?

I have the odd spider , which I think is an o.k. thing , they eat the ants !!!! Small dogs and cats are more prone to have seizures and die of certain types of cancers when living in homes that use chemicals on lawns etc. But these are pets , think of children ..... Apologies to all as well , this has gotten way off topic , but in a friendly and informative way I hope .... ( we also have very strict watering guidelines and bans which are rigidly enforced , and they will drive by and check more often the homes with the " perfect green lawn " . )

Wow- again very impressed Faith

Missypie, I'm with you. After staying at an ant-infested hotel room on the Nicoya Peninsula--I'm not talking about a couple of them either; I'm talking about columns of them marching in at 6 pm every night and taking over the room--I went to a local store and bought me a can of Baygone for the remainder of my trip. It didn't get entirely used up, happily, but I certainly used it when I felt it necessary.

Honestly, folks, Costa Rica and other rainforested nations have much larger enemies than a can of Raid.

Besides, do you really think that a family of Ticos that suddenly finds their generally exceptionally maintained homes infested with a colony of ants, termites or other creatures is going to sit in their little casas and watch the action? Of course not! Let's not be patronizing toward our southern hosts.

The bottom line, Missypie, is that for most of your trip, you won't need any Raid. But if you find yourself in exceptional circumstances, I think it would be entirely appropriate to purchase a can of Baygone or Raid or whatever you can find down there.

Enjoy your trip.

PS: The whole "pesticide-free town" business about which Faithie writes is only working out so-so for us WAY up here (I don't live all that far from her). We had massive numbers of mosquitoes this year and the hay fever and pollen levels were through the roof. The new policies on presticides, while forward-thinking, were implemented hastily and without proper alternative planning. As a result, a lot of people--even those with no previous known allergies--were pretty miserable for the first months of summer.

Obviously the whole " pesticide free town buisness " seems to be the trend ..... as more and more towns in " our area " are following suit . Surely gov't and town officials looked into this a bit before so hastily making these kinds of decisions ?(it's the envoirment ministers plan to have the province pesticide free in 5 years I believe ) Pollen levels do change from year to year anyway , and I am sure if you did some research you would find that they had spiked to these levels in the past .... Oddly enough Prince Edward Island which has no bans , and because of Potatoe farming and golf courses has VERY high pesticide use ,it also has one of the highest cancer and asthma rates in the country , which in preliminary studies has been loosley linked to pesticides ...? I have allready stated we are indeed way off topic , all this from a can of Raid !!lol .... By all means buy some , each to their own .

Are you not the same butternut that was looking to open a boutique " eco " hotel in Dominica ?

Apologies once again ! But it's simply stronger than me !!lol . Baygon is a pesticide that is actually banned in a lot of countrys due to it's known acute toxicity , it's a carbamate based pesticide that has been strongly linked to acute leukemia in children . When studied further , it's been shown that pregnant women exposed to this pesticide in particular were 10x more likely to give birth to a baby with acute leukemia .... When it was hauled off the shelfs in Britian for these strong links , the German based company ( Bayer ) actually paid British college students to ingest the product to prove no short term ill effect . YThis product causes long term damage , "particularly" in offspring . So , in the end I'd rather have a bit of hay-fever ......

How would pesticide use (or lack of) have anything to do with hay fever and pollen levels in Canada?

How would killing the skeeters control the blooming flowers and grasses?

I would agree with Butternut that CR has more pressing envioronmental issues than a few cans of raid but we can save the topic of deforestation from cheap beef and exotic hardwoods exported to the USA for another day.

Still waiting to hear from Missipie about her feeling reguarding chemicals on her food - perhaps you have an opinion Butternut?

Hi Greenfieldhunter .... I think what butternut was trying to say was that because of the bans which include "herbicides " , more weeds have grown , thus the high rate of hayfever / pollen etc.

How do I feel about chemicals sprayed on my food sources? Like I can't do a thing about it.

In my ideal world, I would cook wonderful meals for my family using pesticide and herbicide free ingredients. In the real world, with a full time job and three active children, some nights it's a feat to throw anything at all on the table. I feel totally powerless regarding pesticides and herbicides on food...I live in Texas and feel generally beaten down on most issues.

Missypie- I relate to your feeling of powerlessness

Lately I have been making a real effort to buy organic food produced locally. Getting to know the people who are growing my food has been an enjoyable experience.

This has been facilitated by a farmers market opening in my town one day a week- I actually look forward to shopping.

The good news is- the food tastes great, the quality is excellent and it has not taken that much extra time to shop (although I need to be more organized.

The bad news is the cost- We are spending more for for supplies although I like the people whom we are paying for this service.

It seems like the only power I have to make a difference is how I spend my money, and as of late I have come to enjoy what little power that is.

I don't know what I am going to do this winter. Oh yeah- go someplace warm where the growing season is year round ,hmmm say Central America

At least I can get fresh eggs all winter- nothing like a free range egg.

BTW- I think many of the Tico houses that are on stilts treat the wood stilts with kerosene so the critters do not use them as a means to enter the house.

Faithie- I remain impressed by our northern neighbors

Pura Vida

Someone said, "Do you really think that a family of Ticos would sit by and let their homes be invaded by ants..."

I have Tico friends and here are some things I've observed while in their homes:

1. A large brown snake lives inside the wall of one home and comes out on occasion to have a look around. The owners let it be, figuring it will take care of other pests. They only shoo out the poisonous ones if they come in -- they scoot them out w/ a broom; they don't kill them.

2. My friends in Monteverde get scorpions in their house. The ones in CR just sting--they don't kill you. They accept this as a fact of life and make sure to shake out their clothes before they put them on, and they always wear shoes in the house.

3. Every now and then homes are suddenly invaded by a particular breed of ant. When this happens the Ticos leave the house for a couple of hours. When they come home, the ants are gone and the house has been cleaned by the ants.

4. One morning I stopped by a friend's house in San Jose. There were tiny ants swarming over the kitchen counter. I pointed them out, wondering what he would do about them since I know he's a nature lover, and he just shrugged and said they'd take care of themselves.

I've been very impressed by their respect for all life forms and desire to live in harmony with the earth. That's one of the reasons I keep going back. If you're going to visit Costa Rica, you know that it's an eco-tourist location, that it's a natural place, so you can expect to see some "natural creatures." If you can't tolerate them, maybe CR isn't the best place for you to visit.

Sandy

After reading a very recent review of the Celebrity Suites at the Lost Iguana - where my family will be staying in 10 days - I topped this thread to write down the name "Baygone" so that I can buy some in La Fortuna. The review talks about the doors to the suite being totally unsealed and having a large gap where little wildlife can easly enter. Apparently, the reviewer's bathroom was covered in crickets and beetles every morning and yes, the bugs made their way into their beds.

My 13 year old daughter will FREAK OUT if the suite is infested with bugs and I won't be able to put on a very brave face either. It's far too late to change our reservations, so I want to be chemically armed, even of others of you would peacefully coexist with the critters.

My gosh...have you noticed that you have a tendency to focus only on the negative? I've repeatedly seen people give you tons of positive glowing info and you focus only on the negatives mentioned. Hopefully you will go to Costa Rica and have a great time but....
Can't wait to read the trip report.

Just buy it there if you need it. Have a good time in CR. It's lovely, people are gracious and friendly.

You mean Baygon? The stuff that has been banned in most countries due to it's effects on people, even short-term? I'll take a bug or two, personally. While good to have a well-rounded idea of things that can happen, I'd focus on all the great things that will happen, not the bad things that might.

Wanatrvl, we are paying $300 a night to stay in a Celebrity Suite at the LI. Yes, I consider a bathroom full of crickets and beetles to be a big negative in a $300 per night room. We did not seek out one of the places that only have screened windows, or the places up in a treehouse, etc. When I sleep, yes, I want it to be without bugs in the bed with me. I don't want bugs in the bed with me for $69 at a La Quinta in the US or for $300 at LI in CR. We are not camping.

I have been reading the horrible reviews of LI on Trip Advisor and yes, it concerns me. They are billing themselves as luxury resort, and are priced accordingly, but apparently they did a slap-dash job in constructing the new Celebrity Suites. Maybe I'll be able to come back from the trip and say "Even though we paid $354 per night [with tax] for a room that leaked and didn't have hot water and was full of bugs, we loved Costa Rica and had a marvelous time."...I hope so. And I hope that the recent horrible reviews of LI are isolated bad experiences.

Bed-bugs would gross me out anywhere .... Costa Rica included . Crickets creeping in under a door in a tropical country would be a given to me .... Something I would not be suprised with .

Missypie, if there are bugs in your room, just call the front desk and ask them to take care of it. They will know what to use that won't kill off all the other life in the area. You don't have to take matters into your own hands. You can even complain and ask for another room if it happens. It doesn't matter what you're paying, in Costa Rica it is very common to have a few bugs on your floor, cute little lizards crawling up the walls, an occasional spider or frog--there were even bats next to the doors at Allegro Papagayo, one of the fancy Guanacaste resorts. I knew every time my neighbors came in because I could hear the screams (& then the laughter) as they passed by the bats! The hotels are built into natural environments and have lots of open-air spaces; they are not in a cement enclave where there's nothing alive for miles and no fresh air. It's not the city, and that's why people go there. Maybe if you accept the fact that there might be bugs, you'll be pleasantly surprised or maybe it won't be as bad as you think it is. You might even laugh about it like my neighbors did w/ their bats. It's an adventure. Relax and enjoy it!

Sandy

The one who should write a trip report when we get home is my bug-phobic 13 year old daughter. We'll see how she fares on this trip. My 15 year old son should be very popular...he's the one we always turn to when we get gekkos in the house.

Tell her to try to be brave! I am really afraid of snakes and considering how much time I like to spend in the rainforest I was very lucky to not run into one for several trips. But I knew it would be a matter of time before my luck ran out and I really dreaded it. (On a hike at home, a baby snake the size of a pencil crawled by my foot and I jumped a mile high and screamed like a ninny! My son still teases me about it.) I was worried about what I'd do if I saw one in CR, and finally the day came and I saw two poisonous snakes in one day -- a fer de lance on the trail and an eyelash palm pit viper curled up on a tree that I was just about to walk under. And much to my surprise, I didn't have a heart attack and die. I wasn't even that afraid because they seemed so uninterested in me. I even stood back and watched them for a while. So I lived, and now I'm not as afraid, although I keep my eyes peeled for them when I'm hiking. So maybe your daughter will have a similar experience -- only with crickets and ants instead of snakes!

Sandy