What’s Bugging You

This is one question that is asked frequently when it comes to those who have experienced a bed bug infestation. Perhaps you woke up with some strange marks on your pillow case – or you’ve noticed mysterious red welts on your arms. Maybe you’ve spotted them right there in your bed. YUCK! 

According to Wikipedia, “Bed bugs are a type of insect that feed on human blood, usually at night. Their bites can result in a number of health impacts including skin rashes, psychological effects and allergic symptoms. Bed bug bites may lead to skin changes ranging from invisible to small areas of redness to prominent blisters. Symptoms may take between minutes to days to appear and itchiness is generally present. Some individuals may feel tired or have a fever. Typically, uncovered areas of the body are affected and often three bites occur in a row. Bed bug bites are not known to transmit any infectious diseases. Complications may rarely include areas of dead skin or vasculitis.”

NOW WHAT?

Unfortunately, bed bugs can and do survive through practically any weather – hot or cold, and they can be found in just about any house regardless of where you live. Bed bugs have spread rapidly over the past two decades, and the prospect of infestation can strike fear into the most cool-headed of people. Hopper Termite & Pest understands the many concerns you may have, as we have battled our customer’s bed bug problems at a growing rate over the past several years. What can you do? Here are some next steps you can take:

1. DONT PANIC

If you think you have bed bugs, don’t move furniture out of the room, don’t throw mattresses and other belongings away, don’t rip up carpet and don’t use DIY pesticides on the bugs. All of this can spread the bed bugs further throughout your home. Even if you know beyond a reasonable doubt that you have bed bugs, remain calm and just pick up the phone and schedule an inspection with Hopper asap. 

Bed bugs spread rapidly, may leave itchy bite marks, stain and soil bedding and furniture, are difficult and expensive to eradicate and they carry social stigma—all causing real psychological distress. Realize that they don’t pose any immediate threat to your family’s health because they don’t transmit diseases. They are actually much less of a threat than other blood feeders like mosquitoes or ticks.

2. IDENTIFY

There are many bed bug look-alikes, including carpet beetles, spider beetles, roach nymphs, and bat bugs. Bed bugs typically hide during the day and are active from nightfall until an hour or two before dawn, clustering near a food source (i.e., you). To spot them you can grab a strong flashlight and look for bugs, eggs, and cast skins in cracks, crevices, nail or screw holes, furniture joints, seams, and under any mattress tags, as well as on the bed frame and baseboards near your bed.

There’s nothing distinctive about a bed bug bite, so neither bite marks nor red or light-brown blood stains on your bedding are proof you have them. Look for their characteristic brown-black, dot-like fecal stains (digested blood) on your bedding, mattresses, box springs, or baseboards. If you have bed bugs, you will find some visible evidence. Bed bugs, from eggs to adults, are visible with the naked eye. They are not microscopic, they do not fly, and they do not spontaneously generate.

3. WHERE YOU SHOULD SLEEP

If you decide to sleep in a different bed, different bedroom or even on the couch, you could easily make the problem worse because hungry bed bugs will search throughout the home looking for a meal. It’s easier to treat 500 bugs in one room, than 50 bugs in several rooms. It’s probably okay to sleep in another room for one or two nights, but eventually, the bugs will seek you out.

4. LET YOUR LANDLORD KNOW

We know from experience that you’ll probably want to hide your bed bug problem. If you live in an apartment building or attached house/duplex, part of an effective solution is coordinating inspections and treatments with your neighbors, informing them and your landlord (if you have one) of the situation. Bed bugs can move easily between dwellings that share walls, so it’s crucial to inspect adjacent homes, treat any neighboring infestations and put down barrier chemicals to prevent them from spreading. It doesn’t matter if you’re the cleanest person in the world or the dirtiest or somewhere in between – if you have blood, they’re coming for you.

5. DON’T LET THE BED BUGS BITE

The easiest way to get rid of bed bugs and keep your sanity is to call a professional pest and bed bug exterminator such as Hopper Termite & Pest, Inc. We employ some of the most educated and highly trained technicians in the state.

If you are experiencing a bed bug infestation in Northwest Arkansas, North Central Arkansas – or even in Missouri, Hopper Termite & Pest is your no stress solution! Don’t wait until your bed bug problem becomes overwhelming. Give us a call today and let us take care of you, your family, and your bugs.