Category Archives: Bed Bugs Florida

Its in The Knots top 5 best destination wedding spots in the United States.

Its home to one of the worlds most popular theme parks.

It attracts nearly 1 million seasonal residents or snowbirds each winter.

Florida is a popular destination for just about everyoneincluding bed bugs.

With all of these claims to fame, there is a constant movement in and out of the Sunshine State. Unfortunately, visitors often bring along unwanted guests on their trip, plaguing Florida cities with abounding bed bug problems. In this article, we take a look a the top five cities in Florida for bed bug activity. Did your city make the list?

If you have a problem with bed bugs in your home or business, contact your local Ehrlich Pest Control office today to discuss options.

Coming in at number five is Miami, FL. As a popular spring break destination, its understandable that the city would have an incredibly busy airport. Miami International Airport, MIA, was ranked 12 out of the 25 busiest United States airports by tripsavvy. Its not just domestic passengers traveling into this bustling hub. Next to JFK Airport in New York, MIA has the largest number of global passengers, as it serves as a primary U.S. gateway to Latin America. With this many travelers comes quite a few suitcases, a popular mode of transportation for bed bugs. Whether the bed bugs originally hop on in homes or join the trip along the way via hotels or hostels, theyre always up for a trip.

Next on the list is Tampa, FL. Travelers come for the rich pirate history (or maybe a Buccaneers game) and stay for the infamous cigars and delicious Cuban sandwiches. Tampa is the birthplace of the Cuban! Tampa International Airport set a record for number of passengers in 2017 at 19,624,284, contributing to the 8th straight year of growing hotel occupancy rates in the area. This southwestern Florida city is also right across the bay from Clearwater and St. Petersburg, two other popular tourist destinations in the state, with stunning beaches that draw people in from all over the world. The warm average temperature of 73 is attractive to beach bums and bed bugs alike.

Cape Canaveral is third on our list of Florida cities with the most bed bug activity. Even if you dont live here, if youre a frequent cruise ship passenger, you may have paid a visit or two. Cape Canaveral is the third largest cruise passenger port in the world! In 2016, Florida experienced the reemergence of a pest it hadnt seen in 60 years. The tropical bed bug spreads faster than ordinary bed bugs, and entomologists suspect it may have returned to Florida through Port Canaveral. In addition to the city being a literal doorway to the rest of the world, Cape Canaveral is home to the Kennedy Space Center, which welcomes over 1.4 million visitors each year on its own.

The number two spot goes to Fort Myers, FL, a riverside city with a substantial list of attractions. A short boat ride from Fort Myers will get you to the Cabbage Key Inn, the rumored inspiration behind Jimmy Buffetts Cheeseburger in Paradise. Parrotheads come from all over the world to grab a bite and stick a dollar bill to the wall. The areas rare and expansive selection of seashells also attracts many visitors to Fort Myers and Sanibel. According to National Geographic, many people will go out before the sun rise to look for shells by the glow of a flashlight. Like the other bed bug-plagued cities in Florida, the constant influx of tourists brings with it pests from near and far. However, with tourism bringing in nearly $3 billion to the area, its a risk the city has to take. Whether visitors come for the cheeseburgers or the seashells, theres plenty for them to do in this town. Unfortunately, when they go come, bed bugs do too. Luckily, our Fort Myers bed bug experts are only a phone call away.

Recently passing up New York City and Las Vegas for the most visited U.S. city, it makes sense that the number one city in Florida for bed bugs is Orlando, FL! A world famous tourist destination, Orlando houses Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, which together boasted over 75 million visitors in 2017. That many people means plenty of CO2, a major bed bug attractant. According to Visit Orlandos CEO George Aguel, 2017 brought 20 new attractions to the city, so even those who have visited Orlando in the past have a new reason to make the trip. The Orlando International Airport follows right behind Miami International Airport at number 13 on tripsavvys list of busiest U.S. airports, bringing people (and pests) in from all over the country and the world.

Though it is often hotels that most feel the bite of bed bugs, in the case of Florida, bed bugs are starting to pop up in some unsuspected places such as libraries, museums, and retail outlets. But no matter where you find bed bugs, Ehrlichs bed bug specialists can get rid of them. Every situation is unique, so we believe that the treatment plan should be as well. Ehrlich will develop the most effective and safe plan of action for you and your family. Contact us or give us a call at 888-984-0186 and well send a specialist out to survey your property getting you on your way to being bed bug-free.

For more about bed bugs, check out our Essential Guide to Bed Bugs.

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Top 5 Florida Cities for Bed Bugs - Ehrlich's deBugged Blog

Although bed bugs tend to be about2.5 mm to 4.5mm long, your pup may have the ability to stillsmell them.Dogs have one of the most powerful noses on the planet! While us humans have about 5 million cells in our noses that help us smell, our furry friends have around 220 million!

Particles in the air attach to our pups' wet noses, helping them smell even better.Even further, the part of a dog's brain that is dedicated to analyzing scents is far larger than ours. And while dogs have amazing senses of smells, they are alsosmaller and agiler, allowing them to identify something as small as a parasite.

Since dogs are born with an amazing sense of smell, detection dogs are taught to seek out certain scents, including those of bed bugs, and alert their trainer whenever it is present. This is how dogs are capable of hunting animals and detecting bombs they can smell things the humans can't even imagine being capable of!

The National Entomology Scent Detection Canine Association (NEDSCA) is the only facility in America with accreditations for training scent dogs.The NESDECAstandardsare based upon research conducted by scientists at The University of Florida.NESDECAprovides the training methods set out to be used by trainers and certifies facilities. Dogs, along withtheir humans work alongside one another to produce accurate and efficient results. However, the accuracy of canine detection with bedbugs has been controversial.

ABC aired a story on how effective canine scent detection really is for bed bugs. The show explored a detection team in New York City. The home observed was certified as bed bug-freeby two entomologists. The homeowner, who was indeed an actor for the show, asked 11 pest control professionals that utilize canine detection to inspect her home. Seven of the eleven canine detection teams found the home to be bed bug-free.

There are a multitude of reasons for the false alerts - ranging from a mistake to the fact that the dogs may simply have wanted a treat. Because there is no way to know what training a dog has to determine it's detection reliability, you should always request evidence of bed bug presence prior to a treatment being made.

Originally posted here:
Can Dogs Smell Bed Bugs? - Wag!

Last Update: 10/3/19

Get Compensation From Your Landlord When Bed Bugs Are Found in Your Apartment, Leased Home, Condo or Vacation Rental.

In Florida, the obligation of a residential landlord to a tenant with regard to providing a clean and safe living condition is governed by Florida statute and Florida court opinions this obligation includes renting in a large apartment complex, single-family home, vacation rental or condo.

Most bed bug related landlord-tenant disputes stem from the landlords lack of knowing how to deal with an infestation in an apartment and from not having a coherent bed bug policy as to proper cleaning, extermination and the hiring of certified experts to address an infestation. (Bombing bed bugs, if done incorrectly, can simply lead to the bed bugs spreading to other areas of the home or apartment units in the complex.)

Bed bugs have been found in high-end apartment complexes and vacation resorts and their presence is not determined by the cleanliness of the living conditions where they are found.

According to Florida statute 83.51, unless agreed in writing, the landlord of an apartment complex is required to exterminate for bedbugs. Furthermore, Florida statute 83.56 states if a landlord materially fails to comply with 83.51 within 7 days after delivery of written notice by the tenant specifying the noncompliance and indicating the intention of the tenant to terminate the rental agreement by reason thereof, the tenant may terminate the rental agreement.

However, be aware, going down this road can lead to an issue with the landlord not returning your security deposit.

Unfortunately, most renters insurance doesnt cover claims related to maintenance issues. Thats because the costs associated with eliminating bed bugs is considered part of standard home maintenance.

Thus, Florida landlords and property managers need to properly maintain their premises, including having a maintenance program that looks for and properly treats any bed bug infestation.

Due to the invasive nature of bed bugs (they can lay several eggs per day), an infestation can lead to personal injury claims against a property owner and/or other interested parties (i.e. leasing and rental agents and property management companies).

If a tenant, shows signs of a bite, from a small bite mark to a serious allergic reaction, then the landlord, property manager, or leasing agency, may be held liable for those injuries. In Florida, landlords have a duty to provide habitable living conditions (some duties can be contracted away check your lease).

Be aware, bed bugs bites can resemble spider bites and mosquito bites. Thats why we recommend that you see a doctor to determine the exact type of bite you have. Often times, people learn that those innocent looking bites are in fact caused by bed bugs.

Further, a claim for damages in a bed bug lawsuit can be significant, particularly if the residential tenant has engaged the help of a mental health professional for severe emotional distress. In addition, a tenant can recover damages for his or her:

To this end, a tenant should take pictures or video of his or her bites and collect evidence of the infestation, including capturing a bed bug, if possible.

Also, a tenant should:

If you are dealing with a bed bug issue in your apartment, a good piece of advice is to speak with an experienced Florida real estate lawyer to learn about your rights, including what information you will need to make a claim and the amount of damages you may be able to recover. Most real estate lawyers, like Larry Tolchinsky, offer a free initial consultation (over the phone or in person, whichever you prefer) to answer your questions.

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Bed Bug Claims By Florida Tenants | About Florida Law

Thinking back to childhood, Im pretty sure I lived with a constant fear of accidentally ingesting mind-altering drugs that would leave me comatose. From the time my school started us on the D.A.R.E. program in 4th or 5th grade I was convinced that some evil drug lord was going to rub LSD all over a handrail at a theme park, or on food at the grocery store.

Then I grew up, actually tried those drugs, and realized that nobody in possession of large quantities of psychedelics would ever waste them on complete strangers because that shits hard to find these days.

But the same fear applies here. Of stepping into an otherwise safe situation only to discover that youve wandered into Dantes 7th Ring of Hell. Sure, you always have to be a little bit on guard when you enter a Walmart. Even more so here in Florida where a dude on bath salts could try and eat your face at any point. But this shit should be considered an act of war under the Geneva Convention.

According to CNN, a man entered a Walmart in Edinboro, Pennsylvania armed with a bottle full of live bedbugs and released the blood-sucking monsters inside of the mens changing room to wreak havoc on shoppers. Living in NYC for nearly a decade, the fear of a bed bugs attack always outweighed a terrorist attack or getting stabbed by a bum on the subway.

In fact, those latter two pretty much never crossed my mind aside from the times there were terror alerts or I accidentally stepped into an almost-empty subway cart to find a passed out bum with his manhood hanging out and pants around his ankles. It was always the bed bugs that scared me because it meant you had to pretty much uproot your life. Sanitize everything you own. Get your shitty ass landlord to comply and bring in special exterminators. A total nightmare.

Heres the story from CNN:

A manager at the store in Edinboro found a closed pill bottle with live bugs crawling inside and reported it to authorities Thursday, police said in a release. The bottle was found inside a boys jacket which was for sale. We take this seriously and are looking into this, a Walmart spokesperson told CNN. We are fully cooperating with law enforcement on their investigation. On Friday, health safety company Ecolab confirmed that the insects were bedbugs. An Ecolab employee also reported seeing bedbugs crawling around the mens changing rooms the same day, according to police. A Walmart employee later found a second closed pill bottle containing dead bedbugs in the mens department, police said. Edinboro is in the northwest corner of the state, near Erie. A third-party pest management service has visited the store and we are working with them to assess next steps, the Walmart spokesperson said. In the meantime, we have blocked off the impacted area. (via)

As if I needed another reason to stay away from Walmart Im getting itchy just reading that story. Im pretty certain that anything I need from Walmart I can buy online at this point and my house is closer to Lowes anyway.

I simply will not be able to ever step foot inside a Walmart again without thinking about some asshole somewhere releasing multiple bottles of blood-sucking bedbugs inside of the store just to be an asshole.

For more on this story, you can click here to visit CNN.com.

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Some Monster Released A Bottle Of Live Bed Bugs Inside A Walmart Which Means Im Never Stepping Foot In There Again - BroBible

Florida Bedbug Cases Spike in Spring and Summer

With the heat of spring and summer just around the corner, Florida bed bug infestations are about to hit apartment communities again. With increased infestations, tenants are subjected to pain, discomfort and even serious injuriesfrom bed bug bites. If you are a Florida resident, you need to be on the lookout for bed bugs in your apartment or condominium. If you discover evidence of an infestation, it is important that you address the problem as quickly as possible.

After discovering a bed bug infestation, your landlord must be notified immediately both verbally and in writing. Your landlord should swiftly take appropriate steps to correct the problem. After failing to properly address or even attempt to address the issue with your landlord, legal action may be necessary. It is a landlords responsibility to keep properties free from pests such as bed bugs in order to keep residents safe for human habitation.

Bed bugs have been a growing problem in recent years all across the country, especially in climates like Florida. With the heat comes the perfect conditions for bed bugs to breed and hatch exponentially. Your home could be filled with bed bugs in a matter of weeks. Bed bugs can survive for upto a year without feeding and lay up to five eggs in a single day. Bed bugs can become such a serious problem in an apartment or condo. Be vigilant when inspecting your home for these pests.

If you notice red marks on your skin that itch and swell, or you find black specks in your sheets or along the seems of your mattress, there is a good chance you have bed bugs. At the first sign of bed bugs, you need to contact your landlord immediately so that he or she can call in an exterminator that specializes in bed bugs. It is a good idea to talk to your neighbors, both next to you and above and below you, to see if they are also experiencing problems with bed bugs. The more tenants that complain of bed bugs, the higher chance your landlord will take action.

Of course, there is no guarantee that your landlord will take the problem seriously. Your landlord may not take the necessary steps to truly eliminate the bed bugs. Failure to take the proper steps for extermination may make the problem even worse. Improper treatment can spread an infestation to other parts the building.

Landlords often want to save money, so they may try less effective extermination methods because they are cheaper to use. The landlord might try insecticides from the local hardware store, or may try to bomb the apartment and do it incorrectly. There are a lot of wrong ways to try to exterminate bed bugs, and only a few right ways. In most cases, the simplest and most effective way to exterminate bed bugs is to hire a professional exterminator that has experience with bed bugs.

If your landlord does nothing, or takes measures that only make the problem worse, you do have options. The first thing you should do isdocument the bed bug infestation as thoroughly as possible. Take pictures of any injuriesand any bugs you can find. You should ask other residence if they are having a similar issue and make a record. The next step is to contact a bed bug attorney that understands bed bug infestations in Florida apartments. Our firm has a proven ability to build effective bed bug cases against landlords and others and are here to assist you. Contact our office if your landlord is not doing what he or she should to eliminate the infestation. Contact our firm and tell us your story. Put our skills and experience to work for you.

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Florida Bed Bug Infestations - Bed Bug Law