Bed bugs on the ropes

Bed bugs on the ropes
By Sam Burr

    Bed bugs are on the run in Somerville and authorities are pushing the tiny critters further and further away from the city’s hotels, schools and homes.
    Over the last couple of years, the bugs have been bothering Somerville, on a much smaller level than other epidemics such as a recent New York City infestation. But, nonetheless, the city wants them out and state Rep. Denise Provost, D-Somerville, said the results are encouraging.   
   “I haven’t heard about any problems recently,” she said.

   Bed bugs are small, land based insects that survive solely off of blood. The creatures hide in their prey’s quarters and wait for them to come home and fall asleep- then they attack. In urban scenarios the bed bug’s primary victims are humans, so their attack site is naturally the human’s bed. Thus, their name.
    Victims will wake with many unexplainable bites, but the bed bugs will be long gone, hiding in any crevice that they can fit into. Since they’re at most 1/4th of an inch long, hiding places are rich in numbers.
    Richard Pollack, entomology expert and head of the Laboratory of Public Health at Harvard University, said, “They’re not a big deal. Bed bugs are annoying, but they’re not too dangerous.”
    The bed bugs are literally not a big deal. From their miniscule size to their tendency to avoid light, they easily pass under the radar.
    “If you can read a paper and see the period at the end of a sentence, then you can see a bed bug.” said Pollack.
    The average citizen squirms when they hear the phrase bed bugs uttered, regardless of their level of fear towards them, talking about bed bugs just seems dirty. Out of 11 Somerville businesses, only one had an employee who consented to being quoted- Cynthia Hynes of Teel Square Laundromat on Broadway.
    “I’m surprised,” Hynes said. “If they had cleaned their linens and taken proper precautions, none of this would have happened.”
     Bed bugs only come out during the night and their diminutive size allows them to wander completely undetected. 
     “I know that they’re active at night, when you’re sleeping,” said Provost. “Can’t do much about that.”
     Bed bugs are more of a nuisance then a threat, much like the average mosquito. They also haven’t been found to transmit any sorts of diseases to humans. The most aggravating trauma that the bed bugs cause is their bite marks.
     “There are ways of knowing when a Bed Bug’s bit you,” Pollack said, speaking about the symptoms of a bed bug attack. “Look on your sheets, walls, or anything around your bed for small amounts of blood.” 
     Regardless of whether the bugs can spread diseases, most residents don’t want to live with them. In Somerville, those wishes have been respected recently.
    “There has been one incident in the last year involving the Somerville Housing Authority,” Provost said. “Somerville and the health department have implemented a committee to prevent any future bed bug situations.”
      Act immediately if symptoms of a bed bug attack appear. Procrastinating will only lead to more attacks, said Pollack.
     “Call a licensed pet patrol officer,” said Pollack.
Any licensed exterminator is prepared to handle bed bugs as well. They are not scarce and can be found in any phone book.
      Sal Celestino, a licensed New York City exterminator who has been taking care of the home dwelling pests for over 40 years, said, “My job is to kill them. Just spray the right chemicals on the mattress and carpet.”
      Not just any chemical will do. Fenitrothion, an especially toxic insecticide can be used, but the much safer option, Dursban, is the industry standard. But even toxic chemicals such as these are not sure shots.
     “Dursban or fenitrothion. They dry the bugs out,” said Celestino. “But it’s not always effective.” The bed bugs will die if they come into contact with the chemicals, but considering their size, it is likely that a few will survive. If one of the survivors is a female -- able to produce hundreds of eggs in here lifespan -- then a newborn tribe of pests will be sucking blood from their sleeping victims in at least one day following conception. The chemicals don’t always work, said Celestino.
      “Throwing the mattress out is the only way to make sure the bed bugs die,” said Celestino. “It’s less expensive to throw the mattress out and it’s more effective.”
      If a mattress is lying on the street, then there is a chance that it’s infested. Eventually the bed bugs inhabiting the homeless mattress will die, stranded on their cot like a man on a boat lost and trapped at sea- considering that nobody takes them home.
      “Bed bugs travel on carpets, mattresses and material of that sort. They don’t travel on people. That’s a myth,” claimed Pollack. “I wouldn’t take any mattresses off the street.”
Pollack insists the pests aren’t that bad and won’t be taking over Somerville any time soon.
       “When they bite, there’s no pain,” he said.

 

Comments

[Scott Parker]

Bed bugs may not travel on humans but they will travel on human belongings like backbacks, clothing, radios etc. In an ever increasing mobile population and transient lifestyle (backpackers)especially from third worlds,a pandemic becomes more likely especially with pesticides like DDT unavailable. In Australia hotels,motels and backpackers are not publicising the problem due to financial concerns.

[Brenda]

Actually, the bugs can be dormant to upwards of a year....

[cm]

Actually, for a few of us the bites are excruciatingly itchy and burning. My parents refused to deal with their bedbug problem because "when they bite, there's no pain," - at least for them. Not so for me. Last night I woke up with a burning spot on my calf, threw up the blanket and there was a devilish little creature swollen with blood. I killed it, stripped the bed, packed everything in plastic (washing the sheet apparently gets rid of the bugs)-- and now I have to extirminate my laptop, which must have been infested when I visited my parents the night before. This is no joke. I pray that my quick response will get rid of the little bastards, and that they didn't have the chance to make it to my mattress. Now I have to spend about a thousand dollars to get my parents' house extirminated because they refused to deal with it when it was first discovered.

[Carl]

“I’m surprised,” Hynes said. “If they had cleaned their linens and taken proper precautions, none of this would have happened.”

-I almost wish bedbugs upon this person but I cannot stoop that low. She obviously knows nothing about bedbugs nor the cause of an initial infestaton.

[Tool]

Um... and you do?

[david]

I move from place to place.
These fucking bed bugs follow me everywhere.
Holy crap

[kali]

I wash my linene at least weekly, sometimes more often, but my whole building is infested, all the neighbors complaining, now we have them too. they can travel, apparently up to 100 yards looking for food, hide in cracks in the walls, etc. My husband wakes up every morning with bites. they stay away from me though. I wake upoften and try to catch hem while they are out. and kill them when I find them, maybe 1-2 a night.

[audrey jefferson]

im just scard because i have a baby and they are starting to bite him too.I'm so embraressed

[JOE THE MODEL G]

THESE (classy expletive) MADE ME THROW AWAY 4 BEDS!!!!!!! I THINK THEY WERE SPREAD BY HATIN HUMANS,,,, SO WATCH OUT WHO U LET IN UR LIFE,,, 4REAL!!! CAUSE THE HATERS R OUT THERE,, BUT LITTLE DO THEY KNOW THEY MADE MY LIFE ALOT BETTER!!!!! LIVE LOVE AND LETS KILL THESE BLOOD SUCKERS!!!!!!!!!

[BILL C.]

I WAS ONLY ABLE TO GET RID OF MY BEDBUGS AFTER READING THIS ARTICLE ON THIS WEBSITE ABOUT HOW TO DO IT AND WHAT PRODUCTS TO USE THAT ARE NON-TOXIC TO ME AND MY FAMILY. READ THIS ARTICLE AT

http://www.bed-bug.net/killbedbugs.html.