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Once Bitten

At one point it seemed as if bed bugs were a vague problem of the past, a mythical creature only mentioned cutely before bedtime. However, the recent surge in worldwide populations has reminded us all of just how real and deeply aggravating these nuisances are.

An enormous market for eradication methods has, like the pests themselves, sprung up overnight. Television, newspapers, magazines, and the internet are all awash with a sea of information on how best to handle these insects. Sorting through the barrage of advice and figuring out which options are best for you can be an intimidating process.

Regardless of how they first entered the territory they now haunt, the people who live there and deal with the pests daily are ultimately going to be the ones most responsible for implementing an effective elimination strategy.

Undertaking a through and comprehensive plan from the beginning will save you weeks of time, hundreds if not thousands of dollars, and spare you from an enormous amount of unnecessary frustration.

This guide will assist you in confirming if they are the source of your problem, review monitoring and control options for you with a comprehensive guide to the major treatments methods on the market, take a brief look at some questionable techniques that sometimes get recommended to consumers, and give you advice for what to do when your approach isnt working.

While this guide is directed mainly towards residents of infested properties, this guide can also provide information for property owners and Pest Management Professionals alike.

Before you grow overly concerned or attempt to implement a full-scale reduction plan, it makes sense to first confirm that you do indeed have an infestation.

There are many insects that can sneak into your home, bite your skin, and make you itch: spiders, mites, fleas, and ants, to name just a few. Allergies and various illnesses can also cause skin itching and irritation.

These insects typically leave a red welt that in most cases varies in size somewhere between that of a pencil eraser and a penny. Within the larger circle of the welt you can usually see a smaller circle where the bug broke skin.

Often the bites come in clusters of three, and while they can show up just about anywhere on your skin, typically they prefer to feed on the area of the body that is covered by a t-shirt and shorts.

If youre having trouble identifying the bites, there are plenty of images online to compare them to, and recognizing a match will help in confirming whether or not you have an infestation.

The other main way to confirm an infestation is by locating physical evidence of their presence within the home. This can mean finding signs of their activity, or discovering their main nesting spot within the home.

Search along walls, cracks, gaps, seams of mattresses and furniture, along every edge of your box spring and bed frame. In doing so, you may encounter the insect shells from when they have grown and molted out of their exoskeleton, or find traces of blood and fecal material on walls and surfaces.

(For more information on the biology, see this article from a member of the California Department of Health.)

As gross as these symptoms may be, it cannot only help to locate the primary base of operation, but it can provide a professional with information about the nature and extent of the infestation.

If youre pretty sure that you have an infestation but are having trouble finding evidence or locating them, there are several methods which can help. You can use a trap (often commonly referred to as a monitoring device) to immobilize the bugs, and possibly give you a sense of where they are coming from.

For example, lets say you put sticky traps under each leg of your bed, some on the left near your wall and window, some on the right in the direction of your bathroom. The next morning there are bugs stuck on the sticky traps you placed under the left side of your bed.

This could be a clue that the bugs are coming at night from the direction of the windowsill or from the baseboard at the bottom of the wall to the left side of your bed.

Dogs that can sniff out the presence of bed bugs are becoming an increasingly popular detection tool. Trained canines can be rented or brought into a unit by a professional, both confirming the presence and possibly locating their nesting spot.

It is important to use a smart, experienced dog for this kind of job, and you may want to confirm that the supplier is a licensed professional. As with all efforts at detection, a negative or inconclusive finding does not mean your home is free from infestation.

Its not uncommon at the beginning for you to feel overwhelmed by the reality of having to cope with an infestation.. Some folks take one glance at all the work needed to remove them and say This looks like a lot of trouble, maybe I can just tough it out, or Ill just wait and see if goes away on its own.

This attitude can make a persons existing problem considerably worse. Getting chewed on by these bloodsucking insects isnt like the stray cricket or mosquito that somehow ends up in your apartment.

These insects are highly motivated blood-feeders that have been just waiting for a way to hitch a ride into your home. They can quickly set up camp and multiply into the hundreds when left unchallenged, potentially spreading to anyone who steps foot in your house, and can even begin seeking out your neighbors.

Research has started indicating that they might also be responsible for spreading diseases such as Staph (see Bedbugs as Vectors for Drug-resistant Bacteria for more information). Quite simply, not fighting an infestation can be an impractical and harmful choice for yourself and others.

The course of action a person takes depends greatly on what kind of home they live in, how much they can afford to spend on treatment, and what the particulars of their written housing agreement are.

Rarely is only one treatment method utilized to eliminate them, and most successful removals rely on a balance of Do-it-Yourself techniques and professional assistance.

There is no getting around it: removal requires a great deal of focus and energy, but devising and implementing a sweeping plan tailor-made to your situation will yield the best results.

A tenant renting an apartment may not be financially responsible for the removal of the insects, but this will depend both on their lease and on the laws where they reside. In most states, landlords have a legal obligation to provide a habitable residence for their renters, and an infestation violates that commitment.

Because of the recent resurgence many cities have passed laws obligating property owners to inform potential leasers of previous infestations, and also requiring landlords to take financial responsibility for removal for current tenants (see Overview of State and Local Bedbug Legislation and also this discussion at bedbugger.com).

Accordingly, the first action you should take while renting is to check what your lease says about pest removal, and then investigate what your state and local laws are applicable.

A report should be filed with the management in writing, that way it can be potentially referenced later for legal purposes. Property owners often require in the lease that they be notified quickly, meaning within 24 to 48 hours, by a tenant if there are insects in a dwelling. This is so management can intervene before the pests spread to neighboring units.

Usually property owners will want to arrange for an exterminator to treat the apartment within a few days, and the responsibility of preparing the unit for that visit often falls on the renter.

If the apartment is not adequately prepared by the scheduled date, the exterminator may refuse to treat the unit; the property owners may attempt to charge the tenant for the failed visit, and may even go as far as attempting eviction.

Often leases include harsh penalties against tenants that fail to take the preliminary steps necessary to begin a pest removal. Likewise, if it is the landlords legal responsibility to provide removal services and they fail to do so, it can become grounds for a tenant to pursue a rent reduction, a release from their rental lease, or a lawsuit.

Other actions often accompany reporting the infestation to the property owners. Sometimes a landlord may try to place responsibility for the infestation on the tenant, perhaps blaming questionable furniture brought into the unit.

A renter may want to ask the front office about other recent reports on the property, or inquire of their neighbors about recent infestations directly. If action is not taken by the landlord, it may become necessary to contact the local housing authority, a renters association, and possibly a lawyer.

If you are living in a house, your course of action will be determined by whether you are renting or owning.

If youre renting, youll want to consult what your rental agreement says about pest control. Sometimes when renting a stand-alone house, the lease may be heavily slanted towards putting financial responsibility for pest removal on the renter; without neighbors directly attached, it is hard to prove that the infestation was anything other than the renters fault.

However, this is not always the case, as they might have been in the house prior to the current residents move-in. The property owner may have a preference about who is allowed to treat or spray the house, and the lease may already dictate to what degree each party is financially responsible for treatment.

If you are the property or home owner, it may at first seem like its in your best interest to perform a Do-it-Yourself treatment. While you could be successful with this route, your best bet, especially with larger infestations, is probably going to be to hire a Pest Management Professional (PMP).

As is often the case with home maintenance, attempting to do a larger job on your own for the first time may offer some learning experiences, but it could also prove to be a waste of time and money that leaves you wishing youd instead contacted a professional.

Pushing the stakes higher is the fact that failure to handle an infestation properly in the early stages can make your problem substantially worse later on.

Unless youre forced to go the DIY route, your Pest Management Professional is going to be your biggest help in devising a plan for eradication. Speak with them before you implement any major temperature or pesticide-related elimination techniques. A good PMP will keep you from undermining your own efforts.

Regardless of where you live or the major elimination steps you plan to take, there are universal preparatory actions that need to be taken. They can sneak into just about anywhere, and failing to remove one or two of them can lead to a re-infestation.

A good initial cleaning can help you avoid that. Sorting through and reducing household clutter will give them less places to hide during the remainder of the treatment.

Washing all clothing, linens, bedding, and other fabrics with high heat will kill any pests that might be lurking inside the material. As soon as you know an item to be absolutely bug free, double bag it tightly in plastic to keep any intruders from sneaking in during the rest of the treatment.

Youre also probably going to find yourself making some decisions early on about whether to dispose of furniture or attempt to treat it. The first impulse many people have is to trash their belongings, but hold on: this is a strategy that can quickly get expensive and may make matters worse. It is possible to eliminate bugs from furniture and mattress using certain chemicals that are labeled safe for direct application on those materials.

If you decide you must dispose of something, wrap it tightly and thoroughly in plastic and consider putting a sign or sticker on it that says HAZARDOUS. Then place the item far from anyones home with few or no stops during the transporting process.

The plastic wrap is because youre trying to keep the bugs from jumping off the item and infecting a new area, such as another room in your home or a neighbors dwelling.

The warning sign will hopefully let any sanitation workers, furniture salvagers, or other passers-by know that the item is to be handled as little as possible. You may be hesitant to do this last part, but think of it as bug karma. Keeping others from getting these nasty insects will reduce your chances of them transmitting back to you in the future.

Irritation and desperation may compel you towards a whatever works approach when it comes to choosing methods of elimination. Instead, its recommended that you research techniques, consider the details of your own circumstances, and when possible, consult a professional.

Please read any instructions that come with control and elimination tools, and observe all safety advisories. Devise a plan when using bug control or elimination tools to ensure that you are using them properly and effectively.

Bed bug traps work either by being strategically placed in an area where they will draw the bugs notice and lure them in, or by careful placement in a location the bug is highly likely to scour through.

Sometimes traps are also referred to as bed bug monitors, the reason being that these devices can be used not only to detain the pests, but also to confirm whether they are currently active in the area.

Monitors can also give you an idea of where the pests are coming from. Theres quite a range of bug traps that can be implemented, from cheap, DIY traps to expensive technical units that could cost a couple hundred dollars.

Most interception methods are relatively uncomplicated. Simple sticky glue traps are placed in areas that they are believed to likely to travel. Placing one or more glue traps snugly against the baseboards of a room may trap a few of them, as might placing them under the corners/legs of a bed or sofa.

Other devices can be placed under the legs of the bed to trap bugs using them for passage, such as small containers holding oil or chemically-diluted water.

The slightly more complex method of a bug moat works in a similar way; the moat is like a small container built into a slightly larger container, with the smaller part of the moat being placed under the leg of your bed frame. The well between the smaller and larger container parts is considered the moat area, and this area is coated with a slippery talcum powder.

Hopefully, the bugs will climb the outside of the container on its way to climbing the bed leg, slip down into the moat and be unable to get out. Masking tape is often applied to the outer wall of the moat so the insects have an easier time climbing up into the trap.

There are now several different established ways to lure these insects into a trap, and the bait is typically a combination of heat, pheromones, and CO2.

One of the cheapest methods to put together is a dry ice trap, which is in many ways similar to the previously discussed moat technique, except instead of putting the leg of a bed frame in the middle of the moat container, youre going to put a cup or thermos containing dry ice in the center.

Like your breath, dry ice produces CO2, which attracts these bugs. The goal here is to lure the bugs towards the dry ice and then trap them in the surrounding well. For a quick guide to building your own dry ice trap, see this article from the University of Nebraska.

There are several portable monitoring devices now available on the market, but lets talk about three of the better-known ones.

The BedBug Beacon involved mixing what many claim is simply yeast, sugar, and warm water in a container, thereby naturally creating CO2. The container is attached by hose to a small plastic sticky trap, and for several days bugs will be drawn by the CO2 into the sticky trap.

Unlike the other methods weve discussed so far, the CDC 3000 and the NightWatch Monitor are electrically powered, and both use a combination of heat, CO2, and pheromones to lure bugs.

With both of these devices, the monitor is plugged in, the bug attractant is put into place, and the CO2 canister is attached, and then the devices work on their own over the course of several hours.

Pest control professionals do sometimes utilize traps and monitoring devices, but usually the methods weve discussed in this section are used by the occupant. Once the proper supplies are acquired, setting up a monitoring device and getting it going only takes a few minutes, and depending on which method youre using, can keep working for one night to a week.

While not widely considered a comprehensive method to control and eliminate an infestation, traps and monitors can help you to confirm if indeed they are present, and also eliminate several of them in the process.

Since it is not considered a comprehensive removal tool, a monitoring device or trap should be used in combination with other methods. The best times for their use are:

In the case of the traps that rely on a lure to draw insects out of their hiding place, only some of the bugs who havent fed recently are going to be attracted, so these devices may work best where they may not have regular access to a host, or do not have many feeding options.

For this reason, portable devices may be particularly effective in areas that are currently uninhabited by people, or only occupied by them part of the time.

DIY moat traps placed on the floor, underneath bed legs, can be particularly messy. Theres a good chance that whatever you put down there is going to come in contact with pets, children, or your own feet.

If you have a particularly active home and do not want to see what you put down there spilled on carpeting or otherwise spread around the vicinity, you might want to pass on this potentially messy DIY bug barrier.

Dry ice can reach temperatures well below freezing, and can be harmful when it comes in direct contact with humans. Use gloves and observe any safety precautions the dry ice may come with before working with it.

When using a portable monitoring device that is drawing these bloodsucking insects out with pheromones, CO2, or heat, you want to make sure that the unit itself does not become home to the insect, and that the unit is then brought to a new location, allowing the pests to spread. This could potentially undo much of your work, or make matters worse.

To avoid disappointment, dont overestimate what a trap/monitoring device will do for your situation. Use it mainly as a tool for assessing their presence, killing a few of them, and perhaps making it a little more difficult for them to get to you in the future.

Provided youre not taking any with you on your person to bed, youre using sealed mattress and pillow covers, and then using moats under the bed legs, the combination of those methods may get you through a bite-free night of sleeping.

The NightWatch Monitor is more of a tech toy than the other methods, and so, like many technical devices, it can have its own quirks and malfunctions. Dont hesitate to contact the manufacturer if you dont think the CO2 is properly distributing.

Just follow the directions on the sheet and remember the trapping motto: If your traps do not catch the bugs, this doesnt necessarily mean they arent around.

Using a vacuum cleaner with a hose attachment, the surfaces of the infested areas are subjected to strong, focused suction. It is not recommended that a brush or bristle attachment be used as these can catch tiny eggs before they reach the vacuum bag. Instead, either the hose end or the narrower crevice tool attachment is used.

Special attention is paid to folds, crevices, and hard-to-reach areas where they and their eggs might be. This includes along the seams of mattresses, furniture, cushions, box springs, and along the corners and under the baseboards of a room.

Using a vacuum with a vacuum bag as opposed to just a filter is highly suggested. Immediately after usage the vacuum bag should be removed and sealed within at least one or two more plastic bags, and then ideally disposed of in a location outside of the home, such as a garbage can or local sanitation center.

You can make use of your vacuum before a professional exterminator arrives, or before additional DIY steps are taken. The amount of time this takes depends on the size of the living space where the infestation is occurring, the number of pieces of furniture involved, and your own individual commitment to trying to get rid of the infestation; so potentially one to several hours.

If you already own a cleaner that uses vacuum bags, then this method costs nothing. If youre interested in purchasing a new vacuum with a hose and bagged canister, you can look to spend anywhere from $50 to $400, depending on the brand you go with.

A vacuum is a very effective way to quickly remove insects from a piece of furniture or flooring. Many are resistant to sprays and chemicals, and overuse of chemicals is ultimately what has contributed to that.

A vacuum will indiscriminately remove chemical-resistant and non-resistant insects alike. However, even a vacuum with strong suction used over a surface multiple times might not eliminate all of them and their eggs.

Those concerned about stirring up allergens during the vacuuming process may want to wear an air filter.

Using a cleaner with a vacuum bag cannot be stressed enough. With filter vacuums, there is a risk the bugs or their eggs may continue to live on inside your vacuum and re-enter the home at a later time, putting a person right back at square one. If the pests are being sucked up into a bag that is then disposed of far from the dwelling space immediately after, the chance of re-infestation is reduced.

Often the best course of action for dealing with an infestation, especially for those unaccustomed to handling them, is to contact an experienced professional. Each Pest Management Professional (PMP) is different, favoring some techniques and methods over others, and may offer a variety of services.

Treatment options can range from temperature-based approaches to chemical treatments, and even into full-scale fumigation. A large number of PMPs use restricted-use fumigants such as methyl bromide and sulfuryl fluroide (Vikane), which are only allowed by law to be applied by licensed professionals.

With the increasing magnitude of the epidemic in the United States, there are now a large number of companies, particularly in major cities, which offer complete eradication management, including preparatory cleaning and laundering services.

A property manager may have an arrangement with a particular contractor to use all of their pest control services, or you may have to hire your own PMP. Its important to do some research on the methods used for controlling and decide which path will be right for you, and then contact a professional that can help you take the proper course of action.

Remember though, just as your PMP should listen to your concerns and needs when it comes to treatment, you should listen to their concerns. The best plan for ridding a dwelling is going to take communication, consideration, and effort on the part of all involved.

Even if youre hiring a comprehensive team of professionals to help you manage your infestation, its going to take some work on your end. Decisions about how to handle your home and its belongings will have to be made by you.

The amount of time the project takes depends on the size of the space being treated, the amount of items in it, and the willingness of yourself and others to invest the energy needed to go over it all and see to it everything is bug free.

A team of two or three people working diligently could prepare a medium-sized apartment for spraying within 12 hours, and then have pesticides or temperature treatments applied over the course of a couple of hours.

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