Pest Control and Wildlife Removal Blog

Bed Bugs are Here!

For those of you who doubted that Bed Bugs are here to stay, here’s the latest news out of New York City.  Renowned department store Bergdorf Goodman has hired a Bed Bug hunting dog to patrol its store to make sure they avoid the dreaded bug.  Their unique ability to hide in books, behind pictures and in cracks and crevices stresses the fear they can create in the heart of retailers (from Rent-a-Center to Wal-Mart).  Bed Bugs have also been discovered in movie theaters, public transportation, air planes, libraries and office buildings. 

The following example indicates why Bed Bugs are so difficult to eliminate.  Over the years, I have seen just about every location possible for Bed Bugs to hide but this one beats them all.  A client had a recurrence of them in a room that had been repeatedly treated.  Once again the reality of an insect’s ability to survive was made clear in this case.  As a pest management professional I can never overlook the obvious.  After close examination, we found the source of the re-infestation in this room.  Bed Bugs were in the client’s prosthetic leg.  Every time he placed it next to the bed when he went to sleep he was re-infesting the bed.  The other thing to keep in mind is that he was also taking the bugs with him wherever he traveled.

In an earlier Newsletter, I stated that the future “did not look good” as it related to the treatment and control of these nasty blood sucking pests.  There are many contributing factors; from a lack of effective residual materials to uninformed health professionals.  This stresses the importance of educating ourselves and our clients on the need of vigilance by both parties if control is to be achieved.  Incidentally, another contributing factor to the difficulty in dealing with this problem is the attitude many have today of instant gratification (there is no magic bullet).  Also, the idea that as a client, they play an important role in the process is unthinkable (after all, they are paying us). 

New York City leads the top 10 cities in North America on Insight Pharmaceuticals’ list of Bed Bug infested cities.  This highlights that for those in the Capital District of New York we have not yet seen the tip of the iceberg, as the calls coming in indicate that they are here!