Bed Bugs

Travelers that carry bed bugs home from infested hotels is one way that the bed bug problem in South Jersey is being spread.Even the best hotels can be infested. To avoid bringing the critters home from your next trip, here's what to look for:

• Check you room before you unpack anything. Do not place your suit case or personal items immediately on the bed. In fact it's best to leave them by the door until you've thoroughly inspected the room. If bed bugs are present they can crawl into luggage, purses and laundry piles.
• Look for small dark red dots on sheets and pillow cases and mattresses. This is bed bug excrement. If you find it, go no further. Change rooms immediately.
• Look for eggs and insects on all bedding paying particular attention to seams and crevasses. Check under mattress pads, and on dust ruffles, as well as on the wooden underside of the box spring. Bed bugs are hiders; they do not hang out in the bed during the day. They pick a good hiding spot and stay there until their unsuspecting victim is asleep. They can hide under headboards and other fixtures attached to walls and adjacent to the bed. They may lie in wait in carpet edges, in a crack in the wall and behind floorboards.
• They are difficult to detect when they're hiding so be thorough. Don't forget to examine curtains, blinds and behind wall hangings. Even if you do not discover any evidence of bed bugs a few simple extra precautions can go a long way to insure your piece of mind.
• It is best to use only the hotel luggage racks that have non porous metal legs, since bedbugs climb porous surfaces such as plaster and wood, Keep the rack away from walls and any wooden furniture. If the luggage rack in your hotel room is made of wood, placing a drinking glass beneath each of its legs will prevent bedbugs from climbing up the rack and into your suitcase.

Preventing an infestation begins before you even leave your home. 

• You can reduce the odds of bringing bedbugs home from your next vacation by taking a few simple steps ahead of time. Pack clothing, shoes and other personal items in plastic zipper bags, especially if you intend to place your belongings in closets and drawers. This will stop bed bugs that may otherwise climb into your belongings, and will make inspection of your luggage when you return home a far less tedious process.
• Don't forget, bed bugs can hide in books, clothing toiletries, make up kits or anything else that is not made of metal or glass. You may want to bring a kitchen trash bag, big enough to encase your suitcase when you are not using it. The bag can help seal off invasion pathways for bed bugs during overnight hours. If you are only staying in a hotel overnight or for a couple of days you may want to leave your luggage in the car. Even after precautions are taken, it is rare but possible to have overlooked an infestation. Check yourself and your travel companions for bed bug bites. While bedbug bite marks will not always appear immediately, it will be easier to document and report an infestation while you are still a guest at the hotel.

Because of the serious nature of this pest and the rapid spreading nation wide, if a bed bug infestation does occur it is important not to try to take matters into your own hands.The NJ Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS) recommends that homeowners hire a pest control professional licensed by the New JerseyDepartment of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). The NJDHS recommends an evaluation by a licensed professional to determine whether or not bed bugs are present, and to exterminate them if so. The following is a quote from their site."A careful inspection must be undertaken and all possible hiding places within infested and adjoining rooms examined. Once all likely sources have been identified, then an approved insecticide,should be applied to all areas where bed bugs hide."Cato uses the latest innovations when treating bed bugs. Our integrated pest management techniques incorporates the use of the latest heat equipment, minimal use of approved chemicals and knowledge of bedbug entomology.