Most people have heard the saying, "good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite." Unfortunately, this saying is true and bed bugs are becoming an increasingly serious problem in many homes. The idea of sharing a bed with bugs can make anyone feel uneasy. After all, when someone is totally unaware of being bitten, and then wakes up with welts on their body, it's very shocking.
Western Pest Services has a way to "sniff" out the nuisance, literally. Western uses specially trained dogs to determine if you have bed bugs in your home. All of our dogs are trained using a Scent Diversification Wheel. With the bed bugs hiding in cracks and crevices that can barely be seen, these dogs help people "sleep tight" again by relying on scent to find them. Bed bugs might be able hide from us, but they won’t be able to escape man’s best friend.
Common questions about bed bug problems:
What are bed bugs?
Bed bugs are small insects that feed on the blood of warm-blooded mammals. They are visible to the naked eye, but often hide in cracks or crevices. Bed bugs are oval, a rusty red color, and have flat bodies. They usually come out at night and feed on blood.
Are bed bugs dangerous?
Although bed bugs may be annoying, they are not known to spread any type of disease. However, their saliva is known to cause allergic reactions to many. The reaction can cause red itchy bumps on the skin.
How do I know if my home is infested with bed bugs?
Well, you could notice their bites. Bed bugs can produce large red welts on the skin. The marks are usually itchy and are clustered together with other bites. You could see the bed bugs themselves or small bloodstains from the crushed ones. Small dark spots from bed bug droppings are also seen quite often.
Bed bugs usually hide in or near beds and the furniture in your bedroom. The bodies of these bugs are very flat so they can creep in the smallest of crevices; no spot is too small for the nuisances to hide.
Yuck! How do I get rid of them?
To get rid of bed bugs call an experienced pest control company such as Western Pest Services. You should never take bed bug care into your own hands. If you try to get rid of bed bugs on your own, you can bring harm to your home and your health with the misuse of insecticides. Also, bed bugs are hard to find, and the homeowner rarely finds the entire infestation. If bed bugs are suspected you should act quickly to take care of the problem correctly. Western bed bug sniffing dogs are far more effective when it comes to locating these pests than are even well-trained and experienced human inspectors. Once all the infestations are identified, an approved insecticide or non-chemical treatment will be applied to all the necessary locations. You can once again "sleep tight" and be confident in knowing the infestation was taken care of correctly.
How can I prevent bed bugs?
- Call Western Pest Services for regular inspections.
- Check for bed bugs before unpacking during a trip away from home and unpack outside the home, say the garage, for example. Once clothing is unpacked, immediately wash and dry since heat is a great tool to combat bed bugs in clothing.
- Inspect luggage and other personal items for bed bugs when coming back home.
- Watch out for bed bugs that may have hitched a ride on clothing.
- Take care when bringing used furniture and clothing into your house.
- Clean your sheets and pillowcases on a regular basis.
- Keep blankets and bed skirts from lying on your bedroom floor to keep pests from crawling up to your mattress.
- Inspect mattress for bed bugs regularly.