What do bed bugs and vampires have in common? It’s not a new movie or cable television show but blood. More specifically, it’s your blood they are most interested in.
Most of us grew up with bed bugs being a nursery rhyme that sounded completely innocuous. However, bed bugs have turned that rhyme into a B horror movie and become a significant public health pest in recent years.
In fact, our teams field hundreds of calls every week from concerned consumers who are suddenly being attacked. That’s right – attacked. Bed bugs attack, and inflict painful bites on humans, pets, poultry, and other animals in search of their liquid nourishment.
I know it sounds like a Hollywood script but it’s true – they do want your blood. Their bites cause swelling, welts and itching due to the saliva they leave after feeding on your tasty Type O or Type AB blood!
These blood-sucking pests aren’t picky when it comes to selecting a location to infest – homes, apartment buildings, hospitals, hotels, college dorm rooms, movie theaters, retail stores and even buses! They are adaptable, can survive in a variety of locations, and are easily transported in clothing, shoes, purses, school backpacks – almost anything.
And that’s why they can be so menacing. It’s so easy for them to go undetected as they move from home to car to the workplace, and then onto dinner and a movie, all the while leaving friends behind to inhabit and infest all these places.
Randy Bergman, Western Exterminator’s General Pest Control Manager, has seen his share of nasty pests over his 33 years with Western and some of his bed bug stories have caused my top hat to spin!
“I explain to customers that despite their name, bed bugs can hide anywhere and everywhere in a structure; they don’t confine themselves to beds,” says Bergman. “And bed bugs are secretive. Customers are surprised at how adept bed bugs are at concealing their whereabouts until they want to feed on you. I reassure them too that 5-star hotels can get bed bugs just as easily as a private home—bed bugs don’t care about your address or your housekeeping. They can and will take up residence anywhere they are introduced and have a ready food source.”
He has found bed bugs and their tell-tale calling card – dark droplets of blood – almost everywhere in a house. Behind and on picture frames, in wall sockets, on the nightstand, on sheets and behind baseboards and ceiling trim!
How do you know if bed bugs have set up shop in your home? Bergman recommends customers put light color sheets (white or yellow) on the bed for a week. If bed bugs are coming out at night to feast on your blood you’ll notice small dark spots on the sheets and feel the itch from their bite!
Bergman and our K9 bed bug inspector Honey have both sniffed out their fair share of bed bugs and here is their list of locations where these nasty little blood suckers hide:
- Along the edge ribbing or beneath buttons of mattresses.
- Between the mattress and box spring or in the folds of the dust ruffle.
- Along the support frame or behind the headboard of the bed.
- In the upholstery and frames of furniture.
- In wall sockets and light switches.
- Beneath decorator pillows or behind wall hangings
If you think you have a bed bug problem, contact Randy Bergman or anyone of our Western Exterminator professionals. They will conduct a thorough top to bottom inspection of your home and make a positive identification before recommending a treatment program that will eliminate these disgusting pests.
Do you have questions about bed bugs? If so, I want to hear them. You can send me an e-mail at [email protected]. I’ll be sure to get back to you right away with an answer.
Until next time, thanks for making Western Exterminator Company “The Final Word in Pest Control®.”
Have a pest free day.
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