Although bed bug complaints and violations were said to be in decline last year, exterminator Bill Swan isn't buying it. According to Swan, NYC's bed bug epidemic is still raging, and he attributes the drop in complaints to an increasing number of New Yorkers essentially giving up, sticking an apple in their mouths and tying themselves to spits for the bed bugs armies to feast upon.
In a lengthy interview with Swan, he shared some of his craziest bed bug horror stories with us, and also explained why it doesn't work to try to get rid of them on your own. To that end, he wanted us to spread the word that his company, NYC Pest Control, is running a special this month! Any one-bedroom apartment qualifies for a $275 treatment, which Swan says is "a phenomenal price." Tell 'em Gothamist sent you for a free bed bug fart detector! (Kidding.)
In the past few years, have you gotten more calls about bed bugs or fewer calls? More. But the one thing I do see is that people are starting to raise their level of acceptance with these bugs. Im finding them all over. What does that mean, raise their level of acceptance? Well, when these were first starting, it was like alarms were going off. People were, AAGH, Ive got bed bugs! Now its like, Eh, Ive got a couple of bed bugs. It seems like theyre becoming a little more nonchalant, like an occasional roach or something.
So whats the difference, in terms of threat level, between the occasional roach and a couple of bed bugs? Well, the occasional roach would be in your kitchen by a water source, eating your food and things like that. The few bed bugs would be eating YOU. Theyre parasites. They feed off human blood.
How concerned should people be? If you just have a few, is it worth paying an exterminator hundreds of dollars? Why can't you kill them yourself? When people try to self-exterminate, theyre not taught how to find cracks and crevices. Its very small details youve gotta pay attention to when you spray. You tend to make them spread.
And when I got a little bit closer, there were hundreds and hundreds of bedbugs covering his wall behind his couch. I looked at the guy; he was chewed up, there wasnt a spot on his face that didnt have a bite on it. I said, Sir. Look behind you." He said, Theyre cockroaches. I said, Theyre not cockroaches, theyre bedbugs, and theyre eating you.
The guy looked at me as calmly as you could imagine, and says, In my religion, we dont kill bugs. Just leave them alone. Could you imagine? I swear to you. Then I had one other crazy incident happen down here off Atlantic Avenue by Long Island College Hospital. I go in for an evaluation for bedbugs, and I find bedbugs. So, the lady asks me about treatment options. I go over the chemical options, I go over some of the green options, and she says, Well, would it be possible for you to just come in and vacuum them up and release them somewhere, because I dont wanna see them harmed.
I says, Maam. Theres gotta be a candid camera on around here. I says, Do you really want me to vacuum them up and release them off in the park like theyre squirrels or something? And she said, Yeah. And I says, Maam. Ive gotta go. Ive gotta go.
You have an incredible perspective on this scourge. I think thats the word for it.
You are on the frontlines. I tell ya, Ive come in where people have actually disputed that its a bedbug and then they squish it and sniff it right in front of me. And I find that a little gross. I mean, even though Im an exterminator, Im not gonna handle these bugs barehanded, unless its an emergency and I have to. These people willingly just squish them.
Read more:
Brooklyn Exterminator Shares His Best Bed Bug Horror Stories ...
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