Bed Bug Myths…Fact Or Fiction
Bed bugs are a nuisance and no one wants to be on the receiving end of a bed bug infestation. There are a lot of myths out there that might be making them out to be much worse than they already are, or that can leave you unprepared to seek proper treatment.
Bed bugs are only found in gross motel beds
While there may be some truth that this is a common place to find bed bugs, they can be anywhere. They actually live in a variety of places beyond just beds. They can be found in furniture like couches, chairs, as well as luggage, and more.
Bed bugs have been found in not just hotels (dumpy as well as fancy), but also apartments, condos, college dorms, laundromats, movie theaters and even sometimes hitching a ride on planes, buses, cabs, and in cars. They are also known to hitch hike on your clothes and luggage. If you do find yourself in a place that does have bed bugs, be careful not to bring them back home with you.
Bed bugs only live in big cities
It’s true that bed bugs are much more common in bigger cities. However, that isn’t the only place they are found. The main reason they tend to be in bigger cities is simple. It’s easier for them to spread in places with close contact to humans combined with more frequent travelers passing through.
Anywhere there are apartments, condos, college dorms, etc. are all good locations for bed bugs. Bed bugs feed off of the blood of mammals. If there’s a place to stay with a decent blood meal, bed bugs can live there.
You can tell if you have bed bugs based on the bites they leave
Unfortunately, this is not true. A common question we get in the pest control world is, “what kind of bug bite is this?” Many bugs don’t even bite humans to begin with. Spiders are thought to bite humans all the time and that just isn’t true either.
Some people don’t even have a reaction to bed bug bites. Others can have allergic reactions and have red bumps or sores where they’ve been bitten. It’s almost impossible to identify “what bug bit you” by the marks left behind.
A lot of the time “bite marks” aren’t even a bug bite to begin with. It could be a skin infection, rash, or even sometimes skin cancer.
If you suspect bed bugs, definitely reach out to a pest control service. They can help remove them as they aren’t something you can get rid of on your own.
For any type of skin issue, it’s often best to consult a doctor for help. A pest control service won’t be able to provide treatment or diagnosis.
You won’t wake up when bitten by bed bugs
This one is actually true. Bed bugs are like mini anesthesiologists and they inject an anesthetic through their saliva when they feed off of you, so even though you are getting bit several times, most people don’t feel anything at all until hours later.
On top of this, bed bugs can last months without feeding, so you might get bit one day and not see them or notice them biting you for a long time. Again, if you suspect bed bugs, at all it’s best to have it checked out by a pest control professional so they don’t go unchecked allowing them to breed and multiply creating more issues.
Bed bugs can transmit and spread HIV and other blood born diseases
It’s true that bed bugs do feed exclusively on blood, but at this point thankfully they don’t seem to transfer any blood borne diseases to humans when they do.