Identifying Bed Bugs
Before you can treat a bed bug infestation first you have to properly identify that you do in fact have bed bugs and not another insect problem. Bed bug bites can look very similar to mosquito bites and just because you were bit in your bed at night doesn’t mean that bed bugs are the culprit. Another reason for carefully identifying bed bugs is because the treatment for bed bugs is very different from treatments and chemical sprays that are used to rid homes of ants, cockroaches and other unwanted insects. Bed bugs have built up a natural immunity to many current pesticides and insecticides so while you may kill off cockroaches, fleas and termites chances are the bed bugs will not be affected by the spray.
Luckily bed bug identification is not impossible. Though the tiny, mostly nocturnal wingless insects are difficult to spot with the naked eye the evidence of their presence will not be hard to find. When searching for bed bugs infestations start with the room or rooms that are most likely to be a home to these annoying mites. Bedrooms and rooms with old furniture are your starting points. Check bed frames, mattresses, mattress linings and seams for dark red or brownish stains that can be bed bug eggs, body shell shedding, excrement or the leaked blood of a feeding bed bug. These stains have a sweet though unpleasant odor and can be found smeared into the creases of sofa cushions and under the mattress lining.
Thoroughly check mattresses, furniture and piles of clothing where bed bugs are most likely to hide. Also inspect the spaces between carpet and floor boards, the inside of dresser drawers and any space that is dark and hard to reach. Bed bugs do not like light and tend to move around a night so when searching for them consider areas that provide protection from light like holes in walls where cables and wire pass through and crevices in base boards. Mentally turn a room upside down and inside out to ensure you’ve searched every possible nook and cranny when hunting down bed bugs.
Another good idea when preparing for a bed bug search is to hire specially trained bed bug detecting canines to sweep problem areas in a home or apartment. A dog’s keen sense of smell allows them to better detect the distinct scent of bed bugs and locate where they are nesting and hiding. Since bed bugs are difficult to see using scent as a way to pinpoint their hiding spots is a more thorough method of detection and dogs that are specially trained to find bed bugs have proven to be very effective. Acting much the same way a bomb or drug sniffing dog works these highly skilled canines will scour a building or home, sniffing along all the floorboards and in every corner to ensure no crevice or crack goes unnoticed. When they spot a bed bug infestation they patiently sit and wait for the trainer to confirm bed bugs are present.
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