With so many amazing travel opportunities so close to Wilmington, it’s easy to spend a weekend trekking through the Carolina Appalachians or relaxing at a beachfront bungalow. Unfortunately, the more time you spend away from home, the easier it gets to bring home some unwanted tagalongs: bedbugs. These sneaky little hangers-on are adept at hiding in hotel rooms, campgrounds, rental cars, luggage, and anywhere else people keep their stuff. While you’re enjoying the mountain views, they’re back at the cabin quietly hitching a ride in your duffel bag – and a lot of times you won’t notice they did it until they start biting you in your own bed.
How To Spot A Bed Bug Bite
Bed bugs in Wilmington aren’t always easy to identify. While they have a distinct appearance – small, tan to rusty-brown, and oval-shaped – the problem usually isn’t deciding what they are when you see them. It’s seeing them in the first place. The unfed adults are tiny. They typically aren't even a tenth of a centimeter. This makes them a much less obvious pest than rats or roaches, until you start waking up itching, that is.
Bites are often the first sign of a problem, and the easiest way to figure out you’ve got a bed bug infestation. Bed bug bites are pretty distinct and typically red, often with a darker spot in the center. They’re usually organized in a row of several bites that lines up with where your body made contact with the mattress while you slept. And they’re almost always itchy. Bed bugs are one of the few pests out there specifically evolved to feed primarily on humans. They do this by waiting until we fall asleep, crawling out from their hiding places under our sheets, and piercing our skin to suck our blood through an extended beak, much like a mosquito does – they even have anesthetic saliva like mosquitos.
Other Signs Of Bed Bugs
If bed bugs are regularly engorging on your blood, you will see plenty of signs, even if you don’t react to their bites, such as:
- Staining On The Sheets - If you wake up in the morning to find tiny, round blood spots on your sheets, it’s a sure sign you’d better start checking for bed bugs.
- Feces On Your Bed- Bed bugs leave trails of droppings that look like black specks that are so tiny you can barely see them.
- Exoskeletons- You will see these as the bed bugs start settling in, molting, and growing larger.
- Another thing to remember is – despite their well-known moniker – bed bugs can be found all over your house. In addition to hiding under your sheets and in the creases of your mattress, bed bugs like to set up shop in other spots.
This can be beneath the sofa buttons and cushions, inside the upholstery, between the carpet fibers, and under the area rugs. They can also be found in some more unusual hideouts like in kitchen appliances, underneath folded clothes, and even inside computer keyboards!
Beat The Buggy Bedtime Blues With Jay Taylor Exterminating
One of the most unbearable things about bed bugs is how quickly they spread. You can bring one or two of them home inside your suitcase and have a house full of them within a few months. Once they’re in your home, they’re really, really in. Bed bugs are one of the hardest pests to get rid of, and there are almost no effective home remedies on the market, mostly because it’s just about impossible to get every single spot they could be concealed in.
If you find yourself playing the reluctant host to these miniature vampires, the best thing to do is call the professionals at Jay Taylor Exterminating. Our pest control services include initial inspection, elimination, and scheduled maintenance – all backed by our Pest-Free Guarantee. Give us a call at (910) 586-3788 or visit our scheduling page to arrange your free estimate today!