El Paso Zoo will name a cockroach after your ex and feed it to their meerkats

A horrible ex is pretty much like a cockroach — hard to get rid of and always trying to crawl back in through any space.

Which is why the El Paso Zoo is offering the perfect tribute to bad exes everywhere on Valentine's Day.

El Pasoans are encouraged to name a cockroach after their insignificant other through the Quit Bugging Me event, which will be marked on Feb. 14. And it's free.

“This is a fun way to get the community involved in our daily enrichment activities,” Sarah Borrego, the El Paso Zoo's event coordinator, said in an email.

Here's how it works: Submit the name by sending a direct message via the El Paso Zoo's Facebook page by Sunday, Feb. 10.

Zoo officials will post the first name and last name initial starting Feb. 11 on its Facebook page. Then on Valentine's Day, the cockroaches will be fed to the meerkats.

“The meerkats love to get cockroaches as a snack and what better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than by feeding them a cockroach named after your ex," Borrego said.

If you are in love:Have a date for Valentine's Day? Here are nine things to do to celebrate love in El Paso

You can watch your "ex" be devoured on the zoo's Facebook Live or the zoo website's meerkat webcam at 2:15 p.m. Feb. 14. The meerkat exhibit will be decorated with the submitted names as part of the festive celebration.

Of course, some Facebook followers have already started submitting names.

Facebooker Denise A. Throckmorton posted, "Can you write Peter on 100 roaches and feed the meerkat world?"

Others asked if they could submit more than one name.

And, of course, people are more than welcome to come out and see the roach fest. Singing "La Cucaracha" is totally optional.

More animal news:El Paso Zoo offers fresh chance for orphaned baby primate, a siamang named Deja

María Cortés González may be reached at 546-6150; mcortes@elpasotimes.com; @EPTMaria on Twitter.

If you go to the El Paso Zoo

Where: 4001 E. Paisano Drive

Hours: The El Paso Zoo's admission gate is open year-round from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The zoo grounds are open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, with early closure on Christmas Eve. 

Admission: 2 years old and younger, free; 3 to 12 years old, $7.50; 13 to 17, $9; 18 to 59, $12; 60 and older, active-duty military and military spouses with ID, $9.

More information: elpasozoo.org, 212-0966; elpasozoo@elpasotexas.gov 

5 Cockroach facts

Speaking of cockroaches, here are five cool facts about those hard-to-kill pests.

A cockroach can live for a week without its head. Due to their open circulatory system, and the fact that they breathe through little holes in each of their body segments, they are not dependent on the mouth or head to breathe. The roach only dies because without a mouth, it can't drink water and dies of thirst.

The American cockroach has shown a marked attraction to alcoholic beverages, especially beer. They are most likely attracted by the alcohol mixed with hops and sugar.

Cockroaches can live without food for one month because they are cold-blooded insects. But they will only survive one week without water.

A cockroach can hold its breath for 40 minutes and can even survive being submerged under water for half an hour. They hold their breath often to help regulate their loss of water.

Cockroaches can run up to 3 miles in an hour, which means they can spread germs and bacteria throughout a home very quickly.

Source: pestworld.org