Managing Bed Bugs

Everyone has experienced at least once in a lifetime an unwanted house guest. You didn't want them in your home to begin with. And you tried all you could think of to get them to leave. Not happening! Hum... What's a person to do? Sounds like I am talking about people? It could be a person but not this time. The bed bug! I am actually talking about the bed bug infestation the country and the world is currently dealing with. The bed bug infestation is the talk among the elite in society down to the lowly person with a one bedroom flat on the other side of the world.

Bed bugs are very tiny creatures that have six legs.The length of a bed bug is about the length of a woman's pinky finger nail. Bed bugs have a tubular projection protruding from the area of their head where the mouth should be. The tubular projection is multi-functional. The outer surface is used to pierce the skin while disbursing a liquid that momentarily numbs the injection spot made by the tube. Inside the tube is another tube. It is used to suck the blood from a warm body. Bed bugs drink human and animal blood. It takes about two minutes for the bed bug to fill and gorge itself. It will not eat for another two days after gorging itself. When the bed bug is empty, it is as flat as the edge of a postcard.

Bed bugs are night crawlers. That means they normally feed at night by feeding on human and animal blood. They are attracted to carbon dioxide and body heat. People don't feel them piercing the skin because of the fluid that is secreted as the outer tube pierces the skin.Once a bed bug is filled and finished eating, it scurries to a hiding place that is warm and protected .

Bed bugs are not associated with any known human diseases. There are scientific studies that are analyzing them as carriers of parasites found in some intestinal and heart diseases in several African countries and in some tropical areas. None of the information is currently conclusive or directly linked to bed bugs.

Evidence of bed bugs on humans is the bug's bite marks. When a bed bug bites, it is known to leave several bite marks in a row. The individual may infect the bite marks from continuous scratching. The scratching occurs because the numbing fluid wears off and the person starts to scratch without realizing they've been bitten. Sometimes people infect the bite marks with their own germs. Often times people realize they've been bitten long after the bug has run for cover and is hiding in a safe place.

Bed bugs like to hide in cracks and crevices. They like to hide in the folds of mattresses and other stuffed furniture. Floor boards and window cracks are known hiding places too.They will also hide on the fur of animals who pick them up outside in the grass and on plants. Once in the house, the bed bug finds a safe place to rest until they come in contact with their favorite host, humans. Bed bugs have been known to go for as long as a year without eating.  You might say, where ever a human can exist, so can bed bugs. Bed bugs are often noticed by humans after they have established themselves in the home.

If you're a gambler, you might say , "it's the luck of the draw." That means there is really nothing a person can do to prevent bed bugs from entering your home. The method by which they may enter your homes is uncontrollable.

Bed bugs are known to enter a person's home through everyday activities. They may come into the home through boxes, used and new furniture, on your clothes and through the bags you bring items home in. Bed bugs can crawl into your suitcases in the airports and travel lodging areas. A night at the movies may bring a bed bug into your home from the chairs you were sitting in or the people you bump against. In short there is really nothing a person can do to prevent bed bugs from entering the home. The next best thing is to try and manage the potential for infestation in your home.

There are preventive actions a person may take to keep bed bugs under control and possibly avoid their taking hold in your home...

• Vacuum on a daily basis with a vacuum that has a powerful suction pull. One that can get down into the nap of the fiber.
• Brush your pet before allowing it back into the house.
  
• Inspect bedding and soft furniture for signs of bed bugs. Look for small splotches of blood on sheets and furniture.
• Wrap suitcases in plastic bags. Then spray with bug spray in the tightly sealed plastic bag container holding your suitcase.
• Keep clothes worn on vacation separate from the rest of your clothes until you properly clean them or inspect them.
• Seal cracks and crevices in the home.

When they are detected in the home

Having bed bugs in the home is not a sign of a person's cleanliness or lack of. They are pests that have been with mankind for as long as there have been people. The best thing to do is maintain a matter of fact attitude. That means, deal with the problem and move on. Should you find them in the house, try the following suggestions...

• Hire a reputable pest controller. They will have resources you may never have thought to incorporate against the invasion of the bed bugs. Some companies use a combination of pesticides and natural remedies. Make sure you're not being ripped off
• Heat will kill them. Some pest controllers understand the anatomy of a bed bug and its weak points. Realistically the bugs can stand as much heat as a human can. That means the person applying the heat application should be a well trained and experienced company representative.
  
• Some people use a clothes iron on the hottest setting and apply the iron to the area they nesting and bugs have taken up residence. This should be followed by pest spray to make sure you've thoroughly gotten the whole area. Be careful not to damage your furniture in the process.
• Steam may be used in the same manner as heat. The key is to apply direct hot steam on the bugs. If you hold the steamer too far from the bugs they will only scurry and find a new nesting area.

Conclusion

Bed bugs are pests that will be with mankind for the rest of the time people are on earth. Bed bugs were believed to have been  eradicated with DDT. But DDT was also killing everything else in the process.

One day soon something new will come on the market which will make a dent in the rate at which they spread. Yes, there are pesticides on the market which claim to kill them. There are natural and chemical pesticides, its been found some bed bugs have developed an tolerance for certain pesticides. The bugs are nothing new to society they are new to the current generation.