The Trick To Getting Rid Of A Bed Bug Infestation In Your Kittitas County Home

It is miserable when bed bugs get into Kittitas County homes, but the reason these pests make people miserable is not what you might think. Many believe that bed bugs only infest dirty homes, which means they're dirty insects. While bed bugs certainly are unhygienic pests, they don't hang out in trash receptacles, drains, mop buckets, cat boxes, and other dirty places. They are unclean in that they indiscriminately leave their waste everywhere, including where they sleep. But their lack of exposure to rotting organic matter and the waste products of animals or humans make bed bugs less likely to spread harmful bacteria the way cockroaches, filth flies, and rodents do. They are also not known to spread diseases inside homes. So you don't have to worry about these insects making you sick. Bed bugs are primarily miserable because it is hard to get rid of them. And, while trying to get rid of bed bugs, these insects will bite you—a lot. Let's look at the challenge of bed bug pest control in Kittitas County, common misconceptions that make control difficult, and what works best to address bed bug infestations.

How To Tell If It's Bed Bugs Infesting Your Home

The first challenge is that people often don't know whether they have a bed bug infestation or not. Wait. Don't bed bugs bite? Yes, they do. But lots of bugs can bite you in your home. To make matters worse, you can get bites outside of your home and think you got them from an indoor pest. How? Because it can take hours, or even days, for a bug bite to turn into a rashy, red, itchy bump. Step one is to learn how to identify bed bug bites.

• One bed bug will typically bite three times in a row or zig-zag.
• Early bites are often minor.
• When several bed bugs bite you, they're likely to do it in the same area.
• When newly hatched bed bugs bite you for the first time, you may have several minor bites surrounded by an extensive rash. It is easy to mistake bites like this for an allergic reaction to food or fabrics.
• Bed bugs don't like hair and will most likely bite you on skin that has little or no hair.

You know you have a bed bug infestation if you properly identify bed bug bites, but sometimes this is hard to do. It helps to have more evidence. To get this evidence, you must know how to identify early signs of bed bugs in your home, such as:

• Bed bugs
• Bed bug droppings
• Shed skins
• Tiny white eggs
• Dried blood stains
• The scent of bed bugs.

As you look for these signs, you'll need to know how to find bed bugs during the day. These insects are skilled at hiding and they hide in many places you may not expect, such as:

• Bedstands
• Upholstered furniture
• Alarm clocks
• Computers
• Baseboards
• Crown molding
• Outlets
• Wall voids
• Duffel bags
• Book bags
• Pocketbooks
• Briefcases
• Sleeping bags
• Luggage
• And more.

When you inspect these locations, you'll need to know how to identify bed bugs when you find them. Really? Yes. It is easy to mistake a bed bug for another insect. Here are a few reasons why.

• Bed bugs are small. When they first hatch, they are 1/24 of an inch long. Adults only grow to be 1/6 of an inch, which is still tiny. You'll need to look at them closely to see many of their visual characteristics.
• A few easily recognizable characteristics are that a bed bug is seed-shaped and has six legs and two antennae.
• A newly hatched bed bug is pale white. It is also transparent so you'll see blood or feces inside its abdomen. The abdomen makes up most of the size of the insect. A baby bed bug may look like a red insect with a little white head if it has had a blood meal, or it may look like a black insect if it has digested a meal.
• Nymphs turn tan as they grow. The tan coloration will change if the bed bug has had a blood meal or digested one.
• Bed bugs have a low profile and are somewhat flat unless they have just fed. A fed bed bug will appear bloated. It will also have a red coloration.

We're almost done. Along with identifying bed bugs, you should know how to identify the other warning signs mentioned above. Let's quickly run down through them.

• Bed bug droppings are black. You may find them in cracks and recesses or as fecal spotting on pillowcases, sheets, and bedspreads.
• Bed bug skins are pale or tan.
• A bed bug egg is about 1/24 of an inch in length, white, and easy to miss. You may find individual eggs or a clump of eggs.
• Blood stains left by bed bugs often look like urine stains. The blood soaks into fabrics and turns tan when dry.
• Bed bugs have an odor. Some liken it to a dirty locker room towel.

When you detect bed bugs in your home, the next thing you need to do is assess the problem. Let's look at what you can expect from a bed bug infestation.