What makes a pest a pest? Does stealing food off a kitchen counter make a pest a pest? Yes. What about buzzing around a TV screen in the middle of a movie? Absolutely. How about crawling into a bed at night and biting you while you sleep? That sounds horrifying; what type of pest would do that?! Bed bugs would. If you have never heard of bed bugs or you are looking for a good way to keep these invasive sleep-wrecking insects out of your Pensacola home, let us help. Here is everything you should know about these pests, including how they get into area homes and the best methods to get them out.
Some Ways Bed Bugs Invade Homes
When you buy a piece of clothing, do you check it for bed bugs? When you fly across the country, do you set your luggage down on benches or the floor for extended periods of time? Do your family and friends know about bed bugs and that they could accidentally bring these pests into your home? If your answer to any of these questions is no, you are the perfect candidate for a bed bug infestation. The first step to keeping bed bugs out of your home is to know how they get around. Unlike other pests that crawl or fly into homes, bed bugs hitch rides on items people carry. These items could be anything from a piece of luggage, a pile of used clothing, a backpack, or an old couch or another piece of furniture.
Ways To Identify Bed Bugs
Because bed bugs are such incredible hiders, it is important that you don’t just know what they look like, but also what signs they leave around areas they infest. Here are some things to keep an eye out for around your home and in rooms you plan on staying in.
- Live Bed Bugs: An adult bed bug is ¼ to 3/16” long, oval-shaped, reddish-brown, and flat. Juvenile bed bugs are smaller than this and have lighter skin pigmentation.
- Fecal Droppings: After finishing a blood meal, bed bugs excrete pellets of fecal matter. These reddish-black specks are found near baseboards, around sleeping areas, and in other places where bed bugs hide and feed.
- Blood Stains: Bed bugs regularly overstuff themselves when feeding. This results in blood dribbles on bed covers.
- A Musty Odor: As bed bug infestations become more severe, the pheromones they release become more noticeable in the air.
Strategies To Avoid Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are tricky pests, for this reason, keeping them out of homes is a constant and sometimes time-consuming task. If you are up for the job, here are five of the best ways to avoid bringing home an infestation.
- When sleeping away from home, check rooms you will be staying in for signs of bed bugs before settling in.
- After traveling home, wash all used clothing on high heat.
- Do not set luggage or other belongings down in public for more than 20 minutes.
- Teach your children what bed bugs look like and have them inspect their bags before coming home from school.
- Let your family and friends know about bed bugs and show them how to identify them around their homes.
If, despite your best efforts, you find yourself up against a bed bug infestation in your home, do not hesitate to call the experts at EnSec. Our team of licensed pest control professionals has the experience and advanced tools needed to eliminate bed bugs from your Pensacola home, fast.