by Todd Daigneault

Created on: November 21, 2009   Last Updated: November 30, 2009

I went through a horrible period of time with these awful, bloodsucking vermin. Although they don't infest skin and hair like lice and fleas, they get into beds and vciously bite all night. These things were so predominant in my apartment that they'd even jump from the top of cupboards at me. Before I even knew what they were, I was sitting on my apartment floor, only to be bitten by something that visibly drew blood. By the time I realized what they were, my apartment (and beds) were infested with them. That was just the beginning of a multi-month nightmare that saw insect control sprays and powders work liberally in my apartment...

These bedbugs are such an efficiently-built predatory insect that they can even retreat into the walls, to escape the lethal fumes and powders, designed so well in their insect-killing machinations. Still, they prevailed'; lethal powders sprinkled to and fro still not stopping them, only hindering their pathways somewhat through the apartment. It certainly was not me, as my apartment is cleaned and washed on a regular basis.

But these tiny vermin are now epidemic through North America, after being almost eradicated since mass infestations in the late nineteenth and early to mid twentieth centuries. The bedbugs seek out human blood, not fallen food crumbs, or sugarey food fluids. But clothes lying around, scattered to and fro, can help spread them from home to home. Keeping your clothes in more secured areas like dressers and sealed laundry hampers can help keep the critters from spreading to all of the homes you may visit.

After being surprised and shocked to see mice in my apartment-I was stunned to find out that the apartment was crawling with bedbugs, and they were massed in huge colonies in all of the beds...ughh! We started with the sprays, progressing to strong insectside powders designed to literally shred these very tiny, blood-feeding insects insides. It was like a form of chemical warfare.. With powder just out of sight encircling the beds, and across routes of possible passage, the war began. Slowly and surely, they were eradicated. But what ultimately stopped them was simply sealing the beds in plastic. It denied them a breeding/feeding zone, as humans usually remain prone in their beds for up to eight hours.

But they were in the couches and the livingroom chair too. But these are much smaller areas and less susceptible to breeding/biting. Nevertheless, it was still a zone of comfort for them-too close for comfort to us. It took the couch first being sealed in plastic, duct tape, and then ultimately being discarded. Preventing bedbugs is an extremely hard task to do. As once you become aware of them, they are widespread. It is an epidemic that has spread to the finest residences and hotels.

People have spent thousands of dollars in getting rid of them. Taking a few simple steps as sealing clothes and other spare linen in areas where the bedbugs cannot necessarily reach helps to sharply curtail the spread of them. Sealing your beds in plastic helps to at the very least control, prevent or eradicate them.

Washing your clothes more often, vacuumong and steamcleaning the rugs definitely helps. Looking deep into couches for these tiny predators, including along the baseboards, the edges, and the cushions can help to detect them. As stated before, once detected, they are usually widespread. You can also seal your couches in comfortable slipcovers, as well as plastui sealant. By denying them a breeding/feeding place, they will usually leave for better feeding conditions. But also remember, you may need an exterminator to get rid of them once discovered, as they can hide and go without feeding for a year.

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