With Americans returning to travel in near record numbers this spring, it’s not out of the question that we may see a rise in bed bug cases. National Bed Bug Awareness Week kicks off this Sunday, June 4. Clark, your friendly pest, mosquito, termite, and rodent management expert, would like to help keep your summer vacation or business travels – and your home – free from bed bugs when you return. 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, or rooms, for bed bugs before you unpack. Search 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 cast-off bed bug skins.
• Bed bugs can easily hitchhike via housekeeping carts, luggage, and even through wall sockets. If an infestation is spreading, it typically 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, as these are places where bed bugs are least likely to reside.
• Once you return home, carefully inspect your possessions, including the clothing you are wearing, for bed bugs.
• 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.

Bed bug facts

If you want to amaze people – and maybe gross them out – at your next trivia night, here are some interesting bed bug facts. Surprisingly, there’s a lot to know about bed bugs:

• Bed bugs are found worldwide and are thought to have come to the U.S. from Europe in the 17th century.
• Bed bugs primarily feed on humans, but they can also feed on warm-blooded animals, including birds, mice, and family pets.
• Adults are just under a quarter inch long, relatively flat, and oval-shaped compared to most other insects.
• Bed bugs can lay one to five eggs per day and more than 500 in a lifetime.
• Bed bugs can survive for several months without a blood meal.
• Bed bugs can withstand a wide range of temperatures, from nearly freezing to 122 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Bed bugs draw blood for about five minutes before retreating to digest.
• Bed bug hatchlings are so small they can pass through a stitch-hole in a mattress.
• Bed bugs can ingest seven times their own weight in blood, which would be the equivalent of an average-sized male drinking 120 gallons of liquid.
• Components in bed bug saliva act as an anesthetic and promote increased blood flow at the bite site. This makes the bed bug’s feeding process quick and nearly painless and helps to keep the host from waking up.

Bed bug solutions from Clark Pest Control

An effective bed bug control strategy starts with a careful, thorough inspection of all known and suspected spots where the bugs may hide, performed by a licensed pest professional. This is not a pest that can be controlled effectively with do-it-yourself measures.

Call California’s trusted, friendly bed bug and pest control expert at (800) WE-NEED-YOU (936-3339) or email us at clarkcares@clarkpest.com if you suspect your home may have bed bugs. We can conduct a professional inspection, make an accurate identification and, if needed, offer a multi-tier control and prevention program tailored to your needs. Until next time, the pest management professionals at Clark Pest Control thank you for helping to keep unwanted pests out of your home and yard.