Wondering How You Get Bed Bugs?

By Author: Jill Hopper
Total Articles: 24
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What would you do if you saw bugs in your bed? There are very few feelings that are as unnerving as seeing a plump bed bug crawl over your bed sheets first thing in the morning. If you have never had the extreme displeasure, the realization, followed by the revulsion, is a unique sensation to say the least, and you should consider yourself lucky. The first phrase often out of the mouth of folks is, “How do you get bed bugs?" In almost all cases, bed bugs are brought in from out of the home. Considering the fact that bed bugs only need to feed once a month, they have plenty of time to search for a nice, warm place to call home.

While it is possible that bed bugs, or bed bug eggs, can be tracked into your home from the bottom of your shoe, or from Fido’s coat, the most common source of these pests is hotel rooms. Bed bugs don’t discriminate on the basis of TripAdvisor star ratings. From the Four Seasons to your local Motel 6, bed bugs have become a multi-million dollar problem. Port cities, those cities that receive a steady influx of international travelers, tend to be the worst. New York, San Francisco, Washington ...
... DC, Vancouver and Toronto are considered North American hot spots. Since most of us would rather die than not travel, here are a few common sense tips to keeping your life free of these pests.

First, when you check into the hotel, leave all of your belongings in the car. Don’t wheel your suitcase into your room, just leave it outside the door, or, better yet, in the car.

Once you enter the room, walk to the bed and pull out the sheets. Inspect the ribbon around the mattress for small, black or red blood stains that look like they were made with a pinprick. Look for small, black bugs or anything that looks out of place. Once the mattress is inspected, head over to the chest of drawers and pull out a few drawers to see if anything is crawling around in there. If you can, move the chest away from the wall and look behind it. Finally, if you can move the headboard at all, check behind that to see if there are any creepy-crawlies back there. It can be quite the ritual, but considering the alternative, it is well worth it.

Remember that bed bugs hide in a variety of places, such as: mattresses, linens, upholstery, furniture crevices, floors, behind wallpaper and picture frames. They stay hidden during the day and are active at night and they can grab a ride home in luggage, boxes, shoes, furniture and other clothing or objects.

For more on bed bugs, contact your local bed bug pest control professionals at Hopper Environmental Services.

Article Source: Hopper Environmental