Everyone loves laying in a warm bed, and that includes bed bugs. These pests are notorious for disturbing sleep, and thriving in your Bronx home no matter how many times you wash your sheets. Whether you’re dealing with bed bugs or worried about them invading, here’s how these nasty critters end up in your Bronx home.
Bed Bug Identification Tips
Usually, homeowners don’t know they have a bed bug infestation because they’ve actually seen them. Rather, homeowners wake up with small, itchy welts. Since these pests are quiet and often undetectable, what do they actually look like?
Bed bugs only grow to about 6mm long, have a small head and apple seed-shaped body and six legs. They are light brown or reddish brown in color, and often grow darker once they’ve ingested blood. Overnight, these nocturnal critters drink blood from exposed skin on your body – usually your forearms and shins.
How Did Bed Bugs Get In My Home?
Bed bugs are slow, tiny creatures. They don’t jump, they don’t have wings, and they don’t move fast. So, how do they get into so many Bronx homes?
These pests are known as hitchhikers, because they move from place to place on people and objects. A bed bug will latch onto an article of clothing or a book bag and stay there until you get home. Only then does it crawl out and start crowding around the couch or bed.
Bed bugs are usually picked up in high traffic areas, such as schools, airports, bus stops, subway stations, and libraries. Additionally, they might already be hiding in someone’s used furniture and appliances, or even in grocery bags or shipping boxes. In a densely populated city like New York, bed bugs are bound to happen.
Once they get in the house, they’re pretty impossible to remove. These pests can fit in the tiniest of spaces, blend in easily with their surroundings, and only come out when you’re asleep. Having bed bugs can cause lots of psychological stress, as homeowners hate falling asleep in a bed with bugs and bites.
Bed Bug Prevention Tips
Since bed bugs are so hard to remove, your best bet is to prevent them from getting in entirely. You can do this in a couple of ways:
- Frequent vacuuming. When they aren’t hiding in closets or cracks, bed bugs might camp out in carpeting undetected.
- Reduce home clutter. Bed bugs like cool, dark spaces, so clutter is the perfect place for them during the day.
- Check your bags when you get home. If you bring your personal belongings to high traffic places, bed bugs might latch onto these bags, especially if you’re travelling with suitcases.
- Buy a bed encasement to wash. Bed bugs can’t make their way into bedsheets with a casing on the mattress.
If you notice bed bugs on your bags or clothes, you can treat them by placing the infested items in a secure bag with a no-pest strip. Leave the bag in a ventilated room for 2 weeks, and the bed bugs should be killed, alongside their larvae.
Unfortunately, bed bugs are some of the most common pests. If you find yourself waking up with scratchy bumps every morning, don’t deal with the problem yourself – bed bugs are almost impossible to eradicate yourself. Rather, contact the best Bronx bug busters at Hello Pest Control, and we’ll eradicate your bed bugs for good!
