The reminder that bed bugs are alive and well in your neck of the woods shows up when there’s more hours of darkness and the weather gets cooler. Humans tend to tuck into bed earlier from late fall through early spring. To bed bugs, that’s an invitation to a food fest as the host homeowners provide a free meal of nutritious blood to the greedy little critters. If it weren’t for the fact that the tiny pests never bother to clean up after themselves, it would be very difficult to notice the telltale signs of the small, wingless nocturnal insects! The following six signs may point to bed bugs in your home.
- Seeing live bed bugs.
- Finding pale yellow skins. Like snakes, nymphs (baby bed bugs) shed their skin as they grow. It’s left in areas like the crevices along the mattress or on the bed sheets.
- Noticing eggs and/or eggshells on the bedding or mattress. At 1mm, they’re hard to detect. Use the edge of a dime as a reference – it’s roughly a mm.
- The insect’s excrement isn’t offensive because it’s such a small size: slightly larger than the typed period from your computer. The icky part is knowing that bug bit you to suck out blood, digested the meal, and left what wasn’t usable behind as it left. It often looks like someone used a dark brown or black marker to draw a small dot.
- Reddish or rusty stains on the mattress or sheets. Tossing or turning at night may crush and kill bed bugs, leaving marks that indicate their demise.
- Bed bug bite marks. Your skin may show signs of trauma from bites. The difficulty lies in identifying what caused the marks. You may have what looks like a mosquito bite or develop hives or a rash. It’s been estimated that seventy percent of people have no reaction to the saliva that’s used by the insect to anesthetize the area prior to biting and feeding. Another consensus is that the likelihood of a reaction increases each time a person is bitten. Either way, it’s important to get rid of the creatures before mere itching turns into infected areas because it’s hard to avoid scratching the affected areas.
Bed bug bites may cause:
- Itching or a burning sensation.
- Small rash-like areas.
- Raised, inflamed welts.
- Straight lines with multiple bitemarks.
Bed bugs are active 24/7 because they must feed to survive. They will travel to where humans and red-blooded animals like cats and dogs hang out around the house. Crevices in the easy chair, dog bed, or behind the electric socket cover are examples of hideouts that keep them close to dinner.
All Pest professional pest control helps locals with a bed bug infestation in their home or business by identifying and treating the problem. They are the only local pest control company that uses an environmentally- friendly heat treatment to get rid of the pests. The quick-acting chemical-free process is safe for pets and humans. Give them a call today about their service, available year-round.
