Nobody wants to share their bed with bed bugs! If you suspect an infestation, it's essential to find it early before it becomes established or spreads. While some signs can help determine if you have a bed bug infestation in your home, the best option is to contact the leading Monroe pest control company, Guard Pest Control, for absolute certainty.
What Are The Signs That I Have A Bed Bug Infestation?
While you may need a professional to confirm if you have a bed bug infestation, the following are common bed bug signs to keep an eye out for:
- Live bed bugs: As the most obvious sign, bed bugs don't typically wander around unless they need to feed.
- Shell casings/shed skins: These come in various sizes throughout the bed bug's molting cycle and are yellow-brown. If you find bed bug shell casings, there's a high probability that you have a growing bed bug infestation.
- Bed bug eggs: These are typically loosely stuck to various types of surfaces and are pearly white and resemble tiny grains of rice.
- Fecal marks and spotting: Tiny, dark brown, or black spots around the size of a pen tip are usually clustered around harborage areas, resembling magic marker stains after being washed.
- Bloodstains on sheets: Unexplained rust or red-colored bloodstains that appear in small smears or splotches on pillows, clothing, or bedsheets are often a sign of bed bugs.
- Bed bug bites: Bed bug bites are small, itchy, red bumps that mysteriously appear at night. The most common spots for bites are the legs, hands, and arms and can occur in clusters of three or four bites in a line.
- Bed bug odors: Bed bugs often have a musty, unusual odor with no apparent cause that may remind you of moldy laundry, rust, or wet towels.
Because of bed bugs' flat, tiny bodies, they can squeeze themselves into just about any crevice and crack. They typically hid in furniture joints, inside gaps and cracks in baseboards and walls, in the seams of mattresses, along the folds of curtains, and inside electrical outlets. Typical examples of bed bug harborage areas include your bed, next to your bed, furniture, and walls.
How Do Bed Bug Infestations Start?
Bed bug infestations start in your Monroe home from other infested areas or things like used furniture. They can hitch a ride in backpacks, purses, luggage, or other items placed on upholstered or soft surfaces. The three leading causes of bed bug infestations include:
- Traveling
- Buying used furniture
- Schools and colleges
When bed bugs attach to clothing or luggage, they are easily transferred from one infested area to a non-infested area. They then lay eggs and multiply very quickly in your Monroe home. Bed bugs are opportunistic hitchhikers that can be transferred on luggage, clothing, and other personal items. While many people associate bed bug infestations with travel, they can also be transferred in public locations or during a visit to a friend's home. A bed bug infestation is not caused by poor hygiene or housekeeping, although those issues can make their elimination more challenging.
Will Bed Bugs Infest My Pets?
Bed bugs don't infest pets because pets' fur creates an additional challenge for feeding. However, even though they don't live on pets, they can still hide or catch a ride on your pet until they find a human host. While bed bugs may dislike your pet's fur, they will still hide in their bedding, clothing, or stuffed toys. Protecting pets from bed bugs is achieved by default as you protect yourself and your home from bed bugs through vigilance and hygiene.
What Should I Do To Annihilate The Bed Bug Infestation In My Home?
If bed bugs keep you up at night, there's only one solution: contact a professional bed bug control provider for help. Guard Pest Control has years of experience helping home and business owners in western Washington eliminate bed bugs from their property. Guard Pest Control is committed to ongoing education to ensure our customers are offered the industry's most appropriate and evidence-backed treatments. Bed bug elimination is a science.
At Guard Pest Control, we provide and guarantee complete bed bug elimination. When you contact us and schedule an appointment, one of our certified technicians will visit your home to complete a thorough evaluation of your bed bug situation. Your technician will then recommend a comprehensive treatment plan based on the type of structure, the severity of the infestation, and any potential barriers to successful bed bug treatment. Our methods are backed by recent research findings, ensuring that our detection methods leave nothing missed or inaccurately identified.