Bed Bug Detection For Your Home
Bed bugs were commonly found in homes in the United States prior to World War II. After DDT was introduced, bed bugs all but died out in this country. Once the problems with DDT were discovered and it was banned from the market, the population of bed bugs began to grow once again. Today, bed bugs can cause problems in movie theaters, hotels and almost any place people congregate where fabric cover provides them a place to live. The only way you can keep from having bed bugs is to know bed bug detection techniques.
Bed bugs are approximately the size and somewhat lighter in color than an apple seed. They live in beds, sofas, and practically any upholstered furniture that will allow them to sneak out in the dark to enjoy the only thing that they eat human or animal blood. As soon as they finish their meal, the scurry back into hiding until the next night.
Bed bugs can travel into your home by means of your clothing, luggage or used furniture. They may have found their way onto your person at the office or at a movie theater. Once one bug gets into your home she may lay hundreds of eggs over her lifetime. Her offspring may also reproduce many other bugs. In a short time your entire home may become infested. With bed bugs, keeping a clean home does not seem to matter. All bed bugs need is a meal on your blood. If you are not available, they will feast on your pets. Try to put all clothing that has been in a hotel room immediately into the laundry. Store luggage sealed in plastic bags away from your bedroom until the next trip.
If a home is fully infested with bed bugs, there is a musty foul odor that fill the space. In fact, one way that bed bugs are detected is by the use of specially trained dogs that use their super sensitive noses to sniff out the bugs. Hopefully, you will be able to look for other signs of bed bugs that will allow you to get the problem under control before it becomes an all out infestation.
Since bed bugs are nocturnal, detection is often difficult. Look in cracks and creases on your bed. Look behind the headboard of your bed to see signs of infestation. If you do not see signs of actual bugs, you need to look for rust or brown spots on the bed or bedding especially along the edges of the bedding.
You may also see signs such as discarded skins or egg shells. Your box spring has many hiding places where the bugs can hide. Most of their lives may be spent inside the springs hidden by the mesh dust cover.
If you find bed bugs in the house, take immediate action to get rid of them. It will be a difficult task and you may need to call an exterminator, although many are inexperienced in dealing with bed bugs. Your mattress and box springs may need to be encased in a plastic zipper bag to prevent the bugs from eating. They will die without blood.
If you choose instead to discard your mattress and replace it, remove all clutter from the room and be sure that there are no bugs present before bringing in new bedding. Otherwise, you will just be starting the problem all over again.
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Filed under: Pet Health
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