Household Pests

Drought: Five Animals And Pests You're Seeing More Of, As They Search For Water

Possums: Cute....from afar​Some of us were praying for rain even before it was mandated to do so. Houston's been teased more than a frat boy lately, especially early this morning, when chances of actual rain were forecast in the lofty 30 percentages! At 6 a.m. storm clouds gathered and it even ... More >>

Banishing Bugs with Bay Leaves

Photo by Katharine Shilcutt​Boric acid kills roaches (among other creepy-crawlies). Which is great if you want to dispose of roach carcasses and enjoy crafting little tinfoil boats and filling them with white powder, gleefully placing them in enticing spots like kitchen cupboards, the insectic ... More >>

Papa Roach's Name Doesn't Bug Girls At All

It's a well-known fact that most band names are essentially gobbledygook, but here at Rocks Off, we're trying hard to decode music's oddest monikers in order to find a little meaning. ​"Would you like to come out and review the Papa Roach show?" "I'd rather be blown by a garbage disposal." ... More >>

Health Dept. Roundup

​After a month of hum-drum inspections citywide, somebody lit a fire under Health Department workers last week, and they found some truly epic violators. The longest list of citations came at Fish Place (11550 Gulf Fwy.), where an October 5 visit found an amazing 19. The inspectors found equi ... More >>

Bedbugs Vs. Fire Ants: Which Are Worse?

You, sir, are no fire ant​Cities across the continent are having hissy fits because of infestations of bedbugs. Offices and dorms in Manhattan are being invaded, the Toronto Film Festival is afraid for visitors, it's a dire situation out there. The critters have also shown up in Houston, of cours ... More >>

Love, According to Tracy Letts

Explore love among the mentally ill and insect infested

Houston Is Under Attack

Bedbugs threaten our slumber.

Houston Is Under Attack...From Bedbugs

​In case you haven't been paying attention, Houston is under attack from bedbugs. Of course, Hair Balls has never had to deal with these savage beasts because all the roaches in our apartment get to them before they can get to us, but we still wanted to share some interesting, if disgusting,& ... More >>

PETA Be Buggin' About Blinged-Out Border Beetle

Photo courtesy CBP​Contraband along the Texas-Mexico border flows both ways. Drugs tend to come north. Desperados on the lam tend to flow south. But every now and then there's a novelty like this woman and her strange pet. The Brownsville Herald picks up the tale: It wasn't marijuana, co ... More >>

Everybody's Looking for Some Higher Ground, a Report from Fort Bend County

Aftermath: Cruefest at Toyota Center

From Gaza, with Love

Young Palestinian refugees make moves for peace

Psychedelic Peppercorns

Try a spice at Sichuan Cuisine that's been banned in the States since 1968

Brave New Art

Artists take on corporations and the government in "Thought Crimes"

Cats: That Other White Meat

Dogs aren't the problem in retaking control of Catville

Buggin' Out

That next smash hit from Hollywood may be the work of Houston's own roach wrangler

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Fixer-Upper Downer

HUD hammers the city for botched house repairs for seniors and the disabled

Lights Out

Fireflies are dissapearing from the night sky

Slaying Mantis

Surrealpolitik

Stages' Tango dances around a serious subtext

Six Legs, One Joke

Lofty Aspersions

Some renters find that downtown life ain't so grand. Tough, says their landlord.