Many people are plagued by bed bugs every year. They feed off your blood and are extremely hard to get rid of. But how do people get them in the first place? Bed bugs can come from a variety of places such as used furniture, hotel rooms, hospitals, and other infested areas. According to Pest Control Brampton, which does pest control in Brampton, anyone is subject to an infestation because bed bugs aren’t picky about whose home they go to as long as they can eat.
Ball State University explains that bed bugs were all but eradicated during World War II due to pesticide use, but they have since developed a resistance.
What Are Bed Bugs?
Bed bugs are small, flat insects that are reddish-brown in color. They feed on human blood and are great at hiding. Because of their flat shape, they can hide almost anywhere, which makes them hard to see. Some of the places you could potentially find bed bugs include:
- Box spring
- Cracks and crevices
- Folded clothes
- Anywhere near where someone sleeps. They stay close to you so they can come out and eat when you fall asleep.
How Do They Spread?
It’s a common misconception that bed bugs are drawn to filth. In fact, they are not picky about whose homes they infest, whether it be clean or dirty. All they need in order to survive is blood. They can live anywhere if they have access to that one thing.
Bed bugs are hitchhikers, allowing them to spread quickly. They will hitch a ride on anyone and get off wherever they please, infesting other areas as they go. It’s so easy for them to do this because they hide so well. They can hide in a variety of places, including purses, luggage bags, and clothes, and they are small and hard to see. Some of the most common places that bed bugs infest and spread are:
- Hotel rooms: According to a 2015 study by the National Pest Management Association, hotels are one of the top three places for bed bugs infestations. The reason for this is because so many people use hotel rooms, leaving and picking up bugs as they go. The bugs come out at night and feed. When people stay the night in the infested hotel room, they end taking some bugs home.
- Hospitals: These are now becoming popular places for bed bugs. This isn’t surprising considering that many different people are in and out of hospital beds every day. They hide in your things while you are in the hospital and you transport them home with you when you go.
- A new house: According to the CDC, bed bugs can survive several months without a meal. This makes it possible to move into a house that is already infested and they are just laying low waiting for their next meal. You can also get them at friends’ houses, from visitors to your house, and so on.
Signs of a Bed Bug Infestation
Not for sure if you really have bed bugs? There are some telltale signs of a bed bug infestation that you can spot with the naked eye.
- Bites on you or anyone in the home. The bites will be small, red, and raised. They normally bite three times in a line, so you will see three small red dots in a straight line. This makes it easy to spot a bed bug bite. They will bite on the neck, face, chest, and other places.
- Dark brown stains on your bedding or mattress, caused by the bed bugs’ fecal matter. These are usually in the corners under the seam or under a pillow top. If you see stains that look like dried blood or a little darker, that probably means there is a family of them in the area. They can get inside the mattress and hide in box springs, but the stains give their presence away.
- Bloodstains on your clothes or bed sheets. This indicates that you are probably being bitten while you are sleeping.
How to Get Rid of Them
Once you figure out whether you have bed bugs, you can begin taking actions toward ridding your home of them. If you catch them early, you may not have to shell out a bunch of money to an exterminator if you can locate where they are sleeping and eliminate them at the source.
If you have already become infested, don’t panic. You can always call an exterminator. They aren’t easy to get rid of on your own, but it’s possible if you are determined enough.
As you can see, everyone is at risk for a bed bug infestation because there are so many ways to acquire them and they are such good hiders. If you suspect you have bed bugs, you may need to call an exterminator, or if that isn’t an option, there are things you can buy online and in stores to kill them. Catch them as early as possible!