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If you have never had to deal with bed bugs, consider yourself fortunate. These pesky pests are crafty, resilient, and extremely difficult to eradicate. However, even if you have had the displeasure of living with these annoying pests, there may be a few things that you don’t yet know about bed bug control in Oakville that may be important to prevent future incursions.
They Can Live Undetected for Weeks
Many people believe that the first sign of a bed bug infestation is the telltale bed bug bites, however, bed bug bites can take days, or even weeks to appear. As disturbing as it is to imagine, by the time the bed bug bites start appearing they may have already been living in your home for weeks. The first signs of bed bugs are usually markings from excrement, red or brown staining on sheets, eggs larvae, and shed shells are all early warning signs that you have a bed bug problem.
They Don’t Just Live in Beds
Despite the name, bed bugs don’t only live in mattresses, in fact, mattresses aren’t even their favorite hiding place. Bed bugs like to live and breed near their food source – that’s you – and make their homes in places such as box springs, headboards, sofas, cushions, chairs, baseboards, and even inside walls and behind wallpaper. On top of the common places they like to make their homes, bed bugs can also live in places like backpacks, suitcases, coats, and even on toys, inside picture frames, and in books. With all of these clever hiding places, you can see why getting rid of a bed bug infestation is so difficult.
They Can Go Several Months Without Feeding
If you have had treatment for bed bug control in Oakville, you may not be out of the woods yet. Bed bugs are extremely resilient and can go several months without feeding, depending on conditions and temperature. So, just because you haven’t seen any bed bugs doesn’t mean they aren’t there. People often run into these types of issues when they attempt DIY bed bug control methods, which can be successful up to a certain degree, but often fail to eradicate the entire infestation.
They Are Able to Survive in Both Cold and Warm Climates
Unlike many types of insects that have a preferred climate, bed bugs can happily live and travel pretty much anywhere. As we discussed previously, bed bugs are able to travel on clothing and inside suitcases, backpacks, and purses, so when you return home from your next vacation, you may be unwittingly bringing back a few extra souvenirs. And because they aren’t picky about climate, they can live and breed in your home. To kill bed bugs, anything that is machine washable – clothes, cushions, curtains, blankets, towels – needs to be washed and dried at temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius for at least 15 minutes.