Have a good night? Sleep tight? Not when there’s a risk of bed bug bites! These tiny brown insects, most easily identified by their oversized abdomens, don’t always reside on your pillow or sheets. These blood-hungry pests are the vampiric hitchhikers of the insect world, so if they ever make it into your New Jersey home and onto your carpets, furniture, or the like, your vital fluids are at risk.
How To Avoid Bed Bugs When You Are Out And About
If you wish to protect your hemoglobin and your New Jersey home, you need to know what locations may be considered a potential bed bug hotspot. Many of these sites are, in all likelihood, places you attend or interact with on a semi-regular basis. With this information, you can employ some simple measures to keep yourself safe when out and about:
- Schools: Educational facilities like grade schools are infamous for being bed bug breeding grounds, as a single student can bring the insects from their own home and into proximity to other students for extended periods. Tell your young one to be incredibly vigilant of other students who suddenly seem all too keen to scratch their scalps, and tell them to inform you right away if bed bugs are ever uncovered on someone else.
- Lodging Establishments: When you go away on vacation to a nice hotel across the country or lodge across the state, be mindful that you don’t know who may have been sleeping on your new bed before, what precautions against outdoor bed bugs have been taken between visits, or how effective management’s cleaning measures are in practice. When in doubt, give their sheets and pillowcases a fresh wash.
- Transportation Hubs: Crowded areas of waiting, such as train station bays or airport lobbies, see hundreds or even thousands of visitors each and every day from who knows where! Be conscious of others in packed areas, and if possible, stay your distance from potential carriers.
- Medical Facilities: Just as you would protect yourself in a doctor’s office or waiting room from the prospect of catching diseases, be careful – you don’t know if anyone has recently come in seeking a cranial treatment. Refrain from touching much beyond what is necessary, and keep your hands sanitized when able.
The Signs Of A Bed Bug Infestation In Secondhand Furniture And Appliances
While not a place, another common way to find yourself face to face with bed bugs is via purchasing secondhand appliances or pieces of furniture. With no concrete way of knowing exactly where these products have been, it is up to you to be diligent and watch out for existing bed bugs before you hand over your money. There are several signs to keep an eye out for during transactions of this nature:
- The first thing to need to look out for is actual, live adult bed bugs present on the furniture or appliances. Give it more than a glance though, as the pests could always be hiding under the cushions or inside the product. Pull out a flashlight and examine every nook and cranny you can!
- While you are looking, be sure to also keep an eye out for larvae, which are similarly colored and appropriately stout as their senior counterparts, or eggs, which are opalescent white and incredibly small, but often clustered in large groups.
- Like several other insects, bed bugs shed their old skin periodically and leave them behind as they continue living their lives. While paper thin and paler in hue than the bug they hail from, these pieces of molted casing are as damning pieces of evidence as anything.
- It may sound gross, but it also wouldn’t hurt to watch out for the stained remains of a bed bug’s excrement on whatever appliance or piece of furniture you're considering taking home. These tiny blotches will likely show up as a darker red and will not be singular in number. Even if you don't see any live bed bugs, spotting these red spots is still a clear red flag not to waste your time and money.
No bed bug prevention tip is effective one hundred percent of the time. This is why a specialist’s assistance and advice are so important. If you do bring bed bugs into your home, know that you can trust the professionals at Heritage Pest Control to skillfully eliminate the problem every time.