Bed Bug Hiding Spots
Ask any seasoned pest control technician which insect is the hardest to locate and the answer is usually the bed bug. Nearly invisible to the naked eye, mostly nocturnal and extremely evasive and resistant bed bugs have stymied pest control experts ever since DDT was banned. However, years of stalking the elusive bed bug have given exterminators valuable information on bed bug habits and preferred hiding spots. Though bed bugs are small and cagey they have left many clues behind to use in weeding out their hiding spots. From dried blood and excrement to egg shells and engorged adults after feeding bed bugs can be located, indentified and exterminated. Knowing where these critters hide is your first step towards ridding your home or office of bed bugs.
As their name suggests bed bugs are obviously fond of beds. From mattress seams, bed head boards and sheets to bed frames and the lining underneath mattresses bed bugs will try ever crevice they can to worm their way into your bedding. Bed bugs also are known to stake their claim on old furniture especially sofas, upholstered chairs and cushions. Generally speaking, if it’s warm, dark and hidden a bed bug will call it home.
However bed bugs are not confined to mattresses or furniture and inspections have found infestations in piles of laundry, the tiny spaces between walls and floorboards, around the drilled holes where cables and wires run and in luggage and underneath carpeting. Bed bugs are not picky, they are not considered a nesting insect and being forced to relocate is not a problem for these mite sized pests. Some insects nest in specific areas and can be spotted rather easily. Bed bugs are the true migrants of the insect world and if they have to hitch a ride in a suitcase for thousands of miles they will gladly do so.
As a homeowner, apartment renter, co-op shareholder or office tenant educating yourself on the habits of bed bugs and their hiding spots will help tremendously in locating infestations and taking the necessary steps to exterminating the population. It also helps to know before you call a pest control service that you do in fact have bed bugs and not termites or fleas so they won’t waste time and effort searching for them. Pest control isn’t cheap and you still get billed even if an inspector doesn’t find anything. Doing some detective work on your own in advance can save time and money and get the real problem dealt with immediately.