Excitement around the prospect of traveling again grows. Still, it’s easy to forget one tiny, but trip-altering threat – bed bugs. While these elusive pests can be found in many places, they’re no strangers to hotel rooms or vacation rentals. As we are at the beginning of what will surely be a record summer travel season, now is the perfect time to raise awareness about this annoying pest.
Bed bugs are nocturnal pests that feed on a person’s blood during the night as they sleep. Many people do not feel the bites themselves. Nor do they develop clear symptoms, other than reddish dots where bed bugs bit them, along with some minor surrounding inflammation and irritation.
It’s important to know that if a large bed bug population is present, bed bugs are more likely to be active during the daytime. Also, they are more likely to be found in other, hidden protective places within a home, hotel room, or vacation house.
Where bed bugs hide
Due to their small size, and the ease that they can be transported on clothes, luggage, and backpacks, bed bugs call many locations home. Bed bugs like to hide in small cracks and crevices close to a human environment. Their bodies are flat, making it easy for them to fit into tiny crevices within bedding or furniture. Bed bugs also hole up in mattress seams or box springs. Some signs of bed bugs include dark red or brown stains on fabric and surfaces.
Other common spots where bed bugs hide are:
- - Couch cushions
- - Cracks in wood trim
- - Dresser drawers
- - Upholstery
- - Behind baseboards
Bed bug travel tips
Clark, your friendly termite, grounds care, and pest management expert, would like to help you keep your summer travels and home free of bed bugs. Here are some tips to protect you and your family:
- - Before you leave on your trip, check travel websites to see if your hotel has been reported as having bed bugs.
- - Thoroughly inspect the entire room(s) for bed bugs before you unpack. Inspect behind the headboard, under lights, and inside dressers, drawers, sofas, and chairs.
- - Pull back the sheets and inspect the mattress seams and box springs, particularly at the corners, for pepper-like stains, spots, or bed bug skins that have been shed.
- - Bed bugs can easily hitchhike via housekeeping carts, luggage, and even through wall sockets. If an infestation is spreading, typically it does so in the rooms closest to its origin.
- - Only unpack the clothes that you will be wearing, and don't leave your shoes on the floor.
- - Store your luggage in the bathtub or on a tile floor – areas where bed bugs are least likely to reside.
- - When you return home, carefully inspect your possessions for bed bugs, including the clothing you are wearing.
- - Unpack your bags outdoors or in the garage, and put everything in the washer or in the dryer on the highest temperature setting for at least 10 minutes.
Clark Pest Control is committed to safeguarding your home from pests during these challenging times. Our service technicians use such personal protective equipment as gloves, masks, and respirators, they practice social distancing, they call ahead to notify you before a service, and they adhere strictly to all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines when servicing inside or outside your home.
If you have questions or concerns about bed bugs, call or text (800) WE-NEED-YOU (936-3339) or email us at clarkcares@clarkpest.com. We are ready to help solve your pest issues.
Until next time, the pest management professionals at Clark Pest Control thank you for helping to keep unwanted pests out of your home.