Bed bugs are the stuff of nightmares. They feast on our blood while we are sleeping, and that’s just part of their nasty story. Their name implies where they are most commonly found, but bed bugs have many hiding places, including some that seem highly unusual. Basics about bed bugs follow as well as details about some of their strangest hiding places. Pest control Visalia is a common need to exterminate these blood-suckers, but at least the region is between 3 and 6 driving hours from bed bug hotbeds Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. The most important thing everyone should know about these stealthy insects is that professional bed bug treatment should be sought at the earliest moment, once you discover evidence of bed bugs.
What Are Bed Bugs?
Bed bugs are small parasitic insects. They are relatively flat, about a quarter of an inch long, and brownish in color. Oval in shape, they are almost as wide as they are long. Bed bugs bite, and they feed on human blood using a proboscis. The tiny tube-like structure pierces through the skin, and the bugs drink their victims’ blood while they sleep. Bed bugs are most active from night through the early morning.
Getting rid of bed bugs is difficult, though
professional bed bug treatment from quality pest control Visalia makes it much easier. In cases that are especially serious due to a massive bed bug population, the insects often find unusual places to hide during daylight hours.
Bed Bugs Bites
Bed bugs can bite anywhere on the skin, and they tend to bite where the skin is exposed while we sleep. Bites are typically on the face, hands, neck, arms, legs, and shoulders. Some people are hardly affected in that they don’t feel the bite and develop only minor irritation and inflammation where they’ve been bitten. More severe symptoms can develop among people who are more sensitive to the bites. If there is no further irritation to bed bug bites, they typically resolve in approximately one week.
Some degree of discomfort is produced by almost all bed bug bites. Don’t wait a week or even a day to seek professional bed bug treatment if you see any of these signs and symptoms of bed bug bites:
- Small red welts or bumps in a line or a zigzag pattern
- Small red bumps surrounded by hives or blisters
- An itchy raised bump that has a clear center
- A painful, burning sensation
- An itchy red bump that has a dark center and a surrounding area that’s swollen and lighter in color
- Flat or raised patches that may also be inflamed
- Papular eruptions
- Tiny stained or dried spots of blood on sheets or pajamas
- Bed bug droppings, which are stubborn reddish-brown or red stains seen on fabrics
- Clear or white skins or exoskeletons that are shed by maturing nymphs
More severe
symptoms of bed bug bites that may make medical attention necessary include trouble breathing, fever, blisters, an irregular heartbeat, and feeling flu-like or nauseous.
7 Unusual Bed Bug Hiding Places
The most typical places to find bed bugs are box springs, couches, chairs, mattresses, headboards or bed frames and in clothing, bedding, and curtains. In particularly large bed bug infestations, the following are some of the more unusual places where bed bugs hide.
1-Alarm Clocks
Alarm clocks are convenient places for bed bugs to hide, since they are close to the insects’ “feeding ground” –the beds where our sleeping bodies lie! The reason alarms going off don’t bother bed bugs is because when alarm clocks ring, the parasites are still in bed with their victim.
2-Books
If you’re a book lover, there’s probably no need to worry that you’re attracting bed bugs with your collection. It is only in severe infestations that bed bugs typically hide in books during the daytime.
3-Picture Frames
Bed bugs instinctively seek places to hide. The closer to the bed, the better they seem to like it. That sometimes means bed bugs climb up walls to hide behind nearby picture frames.
4-Nightstands and Dressers
The crevices and cracks within a nightstand’s wooden drawers make ideal hiding places for bed bugs. Plus, they are close to the bed. Dressers aren’t too far away to become hiding spots for bed bugs if the infestation is large enough.
5-Electrical Outlets
In severely infested homes, bed bugs usually fan out to find hiding places that aren’t already overcrowded. They sometimes make their way into electrical outlets.
6-Door Hinges
A door hinge may seem an unlikely place for any bug to hide, but bed bugs have been discovered there when the home’s occupants have failed to seek
professional bed bug treatment for an extended period of time.
7-Light Fixtures
Insects drawn to light are naturally found in light fixtures and it’s no surprise. Bed bugs are a more unusual find in light fixtures though not in serious cases of infestation when a call for pest control Visalia hasn’t been made in a timely manner.
What Does Professional Bed Bug Treatment Involve?
Do-it-yourself bed bug treatments very rarely succeed in eliminating bed bug infestations. The best thing for anyone to do once bed bugs have been discovered is to schedule extermination services. Depending on the severity of a bed bug infestation, professional treatments may include the application of pesticide, creating a barrier between bed bugs and household possessions, freezing, and heat treatment.
How Does a Professional Bed Bug Heat Treatment Work?
Whole room heat treatments can only be achieved by pest control professionals. Special equipment is brought in, and the room is heated to a temperature of between 135º F and 145º F. These temperatures are high enough to kill bedbugs. As long as the resident carefully follows the directions given for prepping the home, the heat treatment provides the best chance that the bed bugs will be wiped out.
Contact Pest Control Now for a Professional Bed Bug Treatment
Bed bugs hide in many strange and unusual places. It’s best to contact Pest Control Now for pest control Visalia. Our pest control experts do such a thorough job that extermination of bed bugs is guaranteed. Don’t wait to get the best professional bed bug treatment around. Call Pest Control Now at 559-651-9882.
