Metro Bed Bug Dogs

Bed bug exterminators have varied requirements for the actions customers must take to prepare for bed bug service. Some companies require residents to
strip down their beds, wash all their clothes, empty every closet, stand their mattresses and box springs up, and move furniture three feet away from the
walls. Others require residents to do no preparation before treatment. We ask you to leave the spaces to be inspected under normal living conditions.

If a trained k-9 confirms no live bed bugs in a closet, why remove all the clothing? Why spend endless hours and cash treating for nothing, or maybe even
cross contaminating the clothing? The reality is that most exterminators don’t have the tools needed to treat for bed bugs. When that’s the case, the only
option is for the client to do all the work and then the exterminator performs what’s called “spray and pray-”spray pesticides throughout the home and then
pray you get the bugs.

We recommend you leave your home as is. Allow a trained k-9 team to inspect; then you and the exterminator can come up with a specific plan to
attack the problem with the least disruption to your life.

I won’t even bring up the number of times clients have proceeded to spread the problem from one room to other rooms by not properly handling
infected clothing, furniture, and personal items.

There is a new trend I’ve been noticing recently. A land lord calls because his tenant has bed bugs and he’s suing me. Now, I’m not big fan of landlords but I see a disturbing growing trend. After an inspection, we figure out what happened. The tenant had bed bugs at their previous apartment, they leave and throw out most belongings or receive treatment and move them. What ever they did it did not work. It may have slowed down the infestation, but did not eradicate the problem. Now they are in a new apartment, maybe bought new furniture, and all the new furniture they haven’t even finished paying for is infected.

The truth is, most landlords, when forced to, will pay for a cheap and ineffective treatment most of the time. I have even seen them try to treat it themselves and this idea is always a disaster. So what’s to be done? Unless this is a building issue, running away won’t work. Effective treatment is expensive but then again, all the other options usually end up being more expensive. Maybe the tenant and landlord should share the expense of the treatment. Then again, maybe the democrats and republicans should also get along for the good of the people. What can I possibly be thinking?

By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer

ATLANTA (AP) — Bedbugs don’t make you sick. But the poisons used to kill them can.

A government study released Thursday found that dozens of Americans have fallen ill from the insecticides, and a North Carolina woman died after using 18 cans of chemical fogger to attack the tiny blood suckers.

Because many of the cases, including the lone death, were do-it-yourselfers who misused the chemicals or applied the wrong product, federal health officials are warning consumers to be careful and urging them to call professionals.

Read full article

I recently noticed all the vampire movies and TV shows and it amazing how much bed bugs act like
vampires.

• They prefer to come out at night.
• They prefer human blood to all other mammals.
• When they bite, they sedate the area so you don’t feel it.
• You can wake up in a bed with blood stains.
• They can drive you mad.
• They are very hard to find.
• Garlic in your system keeps bed bugs from biting, this one I don’t guarantee.
• I know a stake through the heart would work if you could find their dirty little hearts.

It’s a hard one to answerer. The simple facts are these. An adult female can lay 7 eggs a week for 52 weeks, and a nymph can start to lay eggs in 30 days, If ½ of
your eggs are female and half male, in 6 weeks you can have 22 bed bugs. In 12 weeks the number goes up to 106 bed bugs. 16 weeks you can reach 421 of the little blood suckers. 6 months bring you up to 13,328.

I have been recently, and repeatedly, asked if the bed bug epidemic is slowing down. So I decided to look at my records. Business is up, calls are increasing, and the
locations we are treating are moving farther away from our traditional client base. My simple conclusion is that the news media is losing interest but the epidemic is as active as ever. So it’s important keep being vigilant and not to let your guard down.

Photo: Matt Rourke / AP

June 2, 2011

2011 is gearing up to be one of the worst on record for bed bug infestations. Are you protected against this threat? Having the proper mattress encasement and Steri-Fab on hand is the best way to protect yourself.

The bed bug problem has exploded within recent years. People have been struggling with the problem for the last 10 years and it’s getting worse. Many have had to get rid of their furniture, mattresses, rugs and other expensive items due to infestation, not to mention the cost of extermination and inspection costs.

Prevention is the best way to keep your home bed bug free. Read our blogs on travel (Quick inspection tips), mattress encasements, and early detection (dogs). Good luck on your vacation this year! I’m playing it safe and traveling with my trusty bed bug sniffing dog, Chopper, to the Jersey Shore.

Those are the magic words my clients love to hear from me. I’m doing more and more inspections where Chopper, my k-9 partner inspects and does not find any bed bugs. Is the bed bug epidemic getting better? No way! It only means people are starting to understand the importance of early detection.

The other day I inspected an apartment in Manhattan. The tenant had been on a weekend golf trip and came home with some insect bites. A few years ago, they would have been attributed to a mosquito; in today’s environment we assume they are from bed bugs. I received a call, inspected within a few days, and declared you don’t have bed bugs…talk about relief.

We travel, we go to work, we go to school, we go shopping; any of these activities can put us in contact with bed bugs—the wrong bed bugs it seems. it’s the pregnant females that do the traveling when it comes to bed bugs. A pregnant female can lay between five and ten eggs that can hatch in seven to ten days. Once hatched, they start feeding. They require a blood meal between each nymph stage. In eight weeks, a person can end up with six to 11 adult bed bugs and then they start the cycle all over again. It can become overwhelming.

Your only defense is to be proactive, encase the box spring and encase the mattress if it has any openings. Try not to store anything under you bed and keep clutter, especially around your bed, down to a minimum. Don’t place backpacks and coats on the bed. Inspect your mattress often. Be diligent when you travel. The only over the counter product we recommend is called Steri-Fab; it is a great non pesticide contact kill. Steri-Fab your shoes when you come home. Never place back packs on the floor in school or work. Steri-Fab the back pack and coat when you come home. Traveling is a whole other issue.

Travel with Steri-Fab and read our blog on traveling. Most importantly; if you suspect you came across bed bugs, get an inspection—the sooner the better. It’s much easier ridding your home of ten bed bugs from one location then 100 bed bugs from different locations, especially your couch! Don’t rely on the fact that you don’t have any bites. I’m finding most people don’t react to bed bug bites.