How to Avoid Bed Bugs During Vacation Travels
August is peak vacation time for northern New Jersey families. This year, the nationwide proliferation of bed bugs adds a new element of risk to family vacation. Bed bugs can take all the fun out of a vacation and be a nightmare to cope with if you bring them home with you.
Follow these tips from the northern New Jersey pest control professionals at Heritage Pest Control to keep your summer vacation bed bug-free:
- Before you book your hotel, check the online bed bug reporting site The Bedbug Registry and Trip Adviser to make sure your hotel hasn’t been invaded by bed bugs. While this will cut your risk of encountering bed bugs, it is not a guarantee. New guests can bring bed bugs into hotels at any time. Also, a hotel reported as infested could have waged an aggressive bed bug extermination campaign and now be bed bug free. Ask about bed bug activity both when you make your reservations and again when you check in.
- When you check in, leave your luggage in the car and examine the hotel room before you move in. Use a flashlight to look for bed bug signs – live bugs, shed exoskeletons and dark fecal smears. Strip the beds and check mattresses and box springs for bed bugs, especially at seams. Peer behind the headboard, along carpet edges, on walls near vents and underneath drawers.
More tips next time.