With Americans traveling near-record numbers this spring, an uptick in bed bug cases is not ruled out. National Bed Bug Awareness Week begins this Sunday, June 4. Carlsbad, your friendly pest, mosquito, termite, and rodent control expert, would like to help you keep bed bugs out of your summer vacation or business travels and your home when you return. Here are some safety steps you may take to protect yourself and your family:
- Before you go on vacation, check travel websites to see whether your hotel has been reported to have bed bugs.
- Before you unpack, examine the whole room, or rooms, for bed bugs. Look under the light fixtures, beneath the headboard, and inside dressers, drawers, sofas, and chairs.
- Remove the covers and look for pepper-like stains, patches, or cast-off bed bug skins in the mattress seams and box springs, particularly around the corners.
- Bed bugs may spread swiftly via housekeeping carts, luggage, and wall outlets. When an infestation spreads, it often begins in the rooms nearest the source.
- Only unpack your day’s clothes, and keep your shoes on the floor.
- Keep your belongings in the bathtub or on a tile floor since these are the least likely places for bed bugs to reside.
- When you go home, carefully check your things for bed bugs, including your clothing.
- Unpack your baggage outdoors or in the garage, then wash or dry everything for at least 10 minutes on the highest temperature setting.
BED BUG FACTS
Here are some intriguing bed bug facts to wow – and maybe disgust – your friends on your next quiz night. Surprisingly, there is a great deal to learn about bed bugs:
Bed bugs are found worldwide and are thought to have come to the United States from Europe in the 17th century.
Bed bugs mostly prey on humans but may also feed on warm-blooded animals such as birds, mice, and domestic pets.
Compared to most other insects, adults are around a quarter-inch long, flat, and oval-shaped.
Bed bugs may lay between one and five eggs daily and up to 500 in their lifetime.
Bed bugs may survive for months without feeding on blood.
Bed bugs can withstand temperatures ranging from near-freezing to 122 degrees Fahrenheit.
Before returning to digest, bed bugs suck blood for around five minutes.
Hatchling bed bugs are so minor they may squeeze through a mattress stitching hole.
Bed bugs may devour seven times their body weight in blood, equivalent to a man drinking 120 liters of water.
Anesthetic components in bed bug saliva induce increased blood flow at the bite site. The bed bug can feed rapidly and painlessly without awakening the host.
Carlsbad Pest Control provides bed bug solutions.
An efficient bed bug management method begins with a thorough assessment of all known and suspected hiding places by a registered pest technician. This is not a pest that can be efficiently managed using do-it-yourself methods.
If you believe your house has bed bugs, call California’s trusted, friendly bed bug and pest management specialist at (619) 900-6147 or visit our website.
We may do a professional examination, make a correct identification, and, if necessary, provide a multi-tier control and preventive program adapted to your specific requirements. Carlsbad Pest Control appreciates your assistance in keeping undesirable pests away from your home and yard until the next time.