For several decades bed bugs were almost unheard of. Now, they're making a comeback and there are reports of bed bugs in hotels, apartment complexes, college dorms, office buildings, furniture stores, movie theaters, on public transportation – and even in individual homes. These bloodsucking bugs seem to be everywhere and pest control companies are reporting a 70% increase in bed bug extermination services in the last year. If you're headed out for spring vacation, don't bring these nasty critters home with you!
Bed bugs gain entry into homes easily and unnoticed. They come in on clothing, in luggage, on pets, or in used furniture. That means if you travel to a hotel or a friend's home that has been infested – you can very easily bring them back home with you without even realizing it. If you live in an apartment building, you can face bed bug infestations due to neighbors having bed bugs in their homes and the bugs traveling through duct work or false ceilings in search of their next victim. Once inside – it is extremely difficult to get rid of them! Bed bugs can live for up to a year without eating! They've also learned to hide in the tiniest of cracks and crevices so that even do-it-yourself pesticides can't fully reach them.
You should be on the lookout for signs of bed bug infestations all the time, but especially after returning from a spring vacation. The earlier you catch them, the easier it is to eliminate them. While they are not actually nocturnal bugs, they tend to come out at night because that is when it is easiest for them to get a meal from their human hosts – while we are asleep! They hide in your beds, couches, and futons.
The most common sign of infestation is getting bit while you are sleeping. Bed bugs tend to leave bites in groups of threes on any exposed parts of your body, including shoulders, arms, hands, legs, neck, face, and feet. Bed bugs inject their victims with an analgesic saliva that prevents your ability to feel them sucking your blood, but you may wake up feeling itchy or like something is crawling all over your body – and you will be right!
If you suspect a bed bug infestation, lay still in your bed with the lights off for a few hours. Turn the lights on quick and look for scattering bugs about the size of an apple seed as they rush to hide.
Other signs of infestation are dark spots or blood spots on your bed sheets, or translucent flakes on the floor or in the bed as bed bugs shed their exoskeletons.
Because bed bugs breed so rapidly and can live for long periods of time without access to food – it is nearly impossible to get rid of them on your own. If you have signs of a bed bug infestation, call Thomas Pest Services, we have bed bug control services that were developed to quickly get rid of any size bed bug infestation.