Everyone loves laying in a warm bed, and that includes bed bugs. These pests are notorious for ruining your sleep, wreaking havoc on your arms, and staying in your Utah home no matter how many times you wash your sheets.
Whether you’re dealing with bed bugs or worried about catching them, here’s how these nasty critters end up in your Salt Lake City home, and how to prevent them from coming in.
Salt Lake City’s Bed Bug Identification
Usually, homeowners don’t know they have a bed bug infestation because they see bugs crawling around the bedroom. Rather, they wake up with small, itchy welts that last about a week. Since these pests are quiet, undetected insects, what do they actually look like?
Bed bugs only grow to about ⅕ of an inch. These pests are light brown or reddish-brown in color and often grow darker once they’ve ingested blood. Why do bed bugs like your home? Overnight, these nocturnal critters feed on your blood.
Bed bugs have a small head and larger, apple seed-shaped body, as well as six legs and two short antennae. If you see them in your bed or around your furniture, it will most likely be at dusk.
How Did Bed Bugs Get In My Salt Lake City Home?
Bed bugs are slow, tiny creatures. They don’t jump, they don’t have wings, and they don’t move fast. So, how do they get into so many homes?
These pests are known as hitchhikers because they move from place to place on other people. A bed bug will latch onto an article of clothing or a book bag and stay there until you get home. Only then does it crawl out and start crowding around the couch or bed. Bed bugs are usually picked up in high traffic areas, such as schools, airports, bus stops, hotels, and libraries. Additionally, they might already be hiding in someone’s used furniture and appliances, or even in grocery bags or shipping boxes.
You can also pick bed bugs up by buying second-hand furniture. Bed bugs can hide out in furniture for months at a time, waiting for someone like you to bring them inside. Furniture may have bed bugs if it has dark red or brown splotches on it, or if you see tiny bed bug skins or droppings. Always inspect your second-hand objects thoroughly before you buy them, including clothes and other goods from thrift stores.
Once bed bugs get in the house, they’re pretty impossible to remove. These pests can fit in the tiniest of spaces, they blend in easily with their surroundings, and they only come out when you’re asleep.
Having bed bugs can cause lots of psychological stress, as homeowners hate falling asleep in a bed with biting bugs. So, how can you keep them out?
Bed Bug Prevention Tips
Since bed bugs are so hard to remove, your best bet is to prevent them from getting in completely. You can do this in a couple of ways:
- Frequent Vacuuming: When they aren’t hiding in closets or cracks, bed bugs might camp out in the carpeting undetected, so vacuuming the house prevents them from latching on to a far more frustrating hideout.
- Reduce Clutter: Bed bugs like cool, dark spaces, so clutter is the perfect place for them to hide out during the day.
- Check Bags: If you bring your personal belongings to high traffic places, bed bugs might latch onto these bags, especially if you’re traveling with suitcases.
- Bed Encasement: Consider buying a bed encasement that can be washed. That way, bed bugs can’t make their way into your bedsheets, making them easy to remove before they’re everywhere.
Unfortunately, bed bugs are some of the most common pests because these prevention tips don’t always work. These pests are notoriously sneaky and can get past even the sharpest of eyes.
If you find yourself waking up with scratchy bumps every morning, don’t deal with the problem yourself – we promise, it isn’t going to work. Rather, call the experts at Pest Pro Pest Control, and we’ll prescribe a heat treatment that will eradicate the pests for good.