Blood is one of the most valuable resources on the planet. Each person only has and produces so much of it. Lose a pint more than what you need, and your life could be at risk. There is a good reason it is called lifeblood. Today we will be talking about one pest that has been stealing blood around Wilmington, bed bugs. If you have not yet heard about these small parasitic home invaders, we have a few things you should know.
What Are Bed Bugs?
There are parasites, and then there are parasitic pests. Bed bugs are the latter. These apple seed-sized, reddish-brown pests need a steady intake of blood from animals or preferably humans to survive. To get this vital resource, bed bugs will hide on items people carry around and use these objects to sneak their way into homes. Backpacks, luggage, used furniture, dirty clothing, and electronics are just a few objects bed bugs might use to get inside your home.
Health Concerns Related To Bed Bugs
Compared to other blood-feeding pests such as mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks, bed bugs are not that dangerous. They do not have a laundry list of diseases they carry, they do not have painful venom, which they inject with every bite, and they are not known to cause any serious harm. Some cases of bed bugs spreading Chagas disease have been seen south of our border, and with larger infestations, bed bugs can cause insomnia and anemia, but besides this, these pests are practically harmless.
If you are finding bites on your skin after sleeping at night, do your best not to scratch at them. This could lead to a secondary infection, which is more dangerous than most of the other problems bed bugs cause.
Bed Bugs Are Not Easy To Control
Have you heard of DDT? If you grew up in the ’40s, ’50s, or ’60s, you knew this product as the fix-all solution to pest problems. All you had to do was spray DDT around your home, and pests would go and never come back. Most pests fled outdoors where they lived until DDT was banned in the ‘70s. Bed bugs who rely on humans and temperature-controlled homes, on the other hand, almost went extinct. The few that survived were the ones who adapted and grew more resistant to pesticides. This resistance alone makes bed bugs one of the most difficult pests to control. To make things more difficult, bed bugs are adept hiders and can survive upwards of five months within the walls of your home without a blood meal. Even if you think you have killed them all, it might only be a false positive.
Is It Possible To Prevent Bed Bugs?
Because bed bugs invade on items people carry, no professional pest control service can prevent them. If any say that they do, do not give them a penny! If you want to reduce your chances of a bed bug infestation, we recommend learning how to identify signs of bed bugs. This will help you spot them early and greatly reduce your chances of bringing them home with you.
What To Do When Bed Bugs Invade
If you suspect your home has a bed bug problem, there is only one guaranteed solution to get them out, and that is professional pest control. At Jay Taylor Exterminating, we offer detailed bed bug elimination services, quality inspections, and unmatched customer satisfaction. If you want your problem handled properly, our team is the right choice for the job. Call us today at Jay Taylor Exterminating, to find out what over 75 years of pest control excellence could look like for your Wilmington home.