BED BUG ERADICATION
Posted By SafeGuard Pest Control Administrator
WHY ARE BED BUGS SO DIFFICULT TO ERADICATE?
Bed bugs are one of the most feared bugs, and with good reason. Once they get inside your house, they are especially hard to exterminate. While initially you don’t feel a bed bug bite, afterward, a stinging or burning sensation is common at the bite site and can last for up to a week. And an infected home or business could easily wind up with a small colony of bed bugs since a female commonly lays over 300 eggs in her four-month lifetime, making it of dire importance to call a knowledgeable exterminator as soon as you suspect the presence of bed bugs.
HOW DO BED BUGS GET INSIDE?
Bed bugs are crafty creatures. They would make great spies because they know how to hide in virtually any crack and crevice available. They most commonly hide in mattresses and box springs, but they can also hide in furniture, electrical outlets, picture frames, behind baseboards, in bedding, etc. They often hitch rides in suitcases and in people’s clothes like in the cuff of their jeans or in their pockets. You can get bed bugs inside your house if someone who has bed bugs visits. Or, if you’re coming back from vacation and you are carrying them inside your suitcase. They can even migrate from house to house along plumbing, gutters and wires. Bed bugs have been found in the cleanest of homes, because it’s not food or water they are looking for, it’s blood.
WHY ARE BED BUGS SO HARD TO FIND?
Usually the first clue that there is a bed bug infestation is the presence of a human bite. The bites are red and clumped together or in a line. Bed bugs are only about 1/4” in length, and are oval, chestnut-brown (reddish when engorged), with antennae. They are so difficult to find because they are masters at hiding, and since they’re nocturnal, they come out at night when their host is asleep. During the day they hide in the seams of mattresses and box springs, inside upholstery cording, buttons, and folds. Coupled with the fact that they are about half of the size of Abe Lincoln’s head on the penny, they are very difficult to spot.
UNUSUAL BED BUG HIDING SPOTS
While bed bugs have their favorite places, and are not usually more than five feet from where their host spends most of their time, there are other places they like to hide besides what’s listed above. If you suspect you may have bed bugs, consider looking in these areas also:
• Toy boxes
• Inside the seams of wallpaper
• Window and door moldings
• In cell phone casings
• Books
• In cat and dog beds
• In cars
• In the laundry room
In the same vein, you are unlikely to find bed bugs in bathrooms (they don’t like smooth, porcelain surfaces), in garages, in basements (especially unfinished ones), or any other room that is not usually frequented by you or others.
WHY YOU SHOULD LEAVE BED BUG EXTERMINATION TO THE PROS
Bed bugs are a common problem for hospitals, hotels, vacation rentals, apartment buildings, residential homes, offices, etc. Because of this, research is ongoing about how best to eradicate them. And while there are plenty of OTC products on the market that claim to get rid of your bed bugs, but if you do the treatment yourself, you are likely to disperse the bugs into other parts of the house as they seek refuge elsewhere. A pest control company will have access to the most up to date treatments proven to kill bed bugs, and will be able to employ all safety procedures and best practices for the most effective treatment.
It’s simply unwise for the general homeowner to attempt eradication on their own, as it’s likely a) that the product won’t be strong enough and b) that the bed bugs will spread to other areas of the home. And if you’re thinking of just leaving your home and jetting off for vacation, think again. Although bed bugs need blood to survive, they can live for months (some even longer than a year) without feeding.
That's why getting it done professionally by an authorized exterminator is truly the best route to take.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TOLL BED BUGS CAN HAVE ON YOUR MIND
Even though bed bugs are quite common and found in nearly every city and every small town, the people that experience bed bugs, especially in their own home, are usually left with a heightened sense of anxiety. Bed bugs are unlike other bugs, after all, lots of people don’t like spiders, but spiders aren’t known to wait for you to fall asleep and attack you in your bed at night. It’s the same thing with other types of common, every day insects. Flies are a pain, but they don’t lie in wait like tiny vampires. Bed bugs make people uneasy, can give them insomnia, create paranoia, and can even bring on depression. This is just another reason why it’s so important to call an experienced pest control service as soon as you suspect a bed bug issue in your Yardley home or office.
