Live Bed Bug-Free with Pointe!
Pointe Pest Control St. Louis is committed to keeping your home pest-free in every season. Our team of experienced and state-certified technicians are dedicated to providing safe and effective pest control services for the Western Illinois and Eastern Missouri areas. If a pest problem is not completely resolved after a visit, our technicians will return until it is eliminated.
St. Louis Understands Bed Bugs
New York and Los Angeles may be well-known for bed bugs due to the major tourist population, but other cities can still endure bed bug issues. St. Louis has been noted online as one of the most common cities to receive bed bug treatments. This does not mean that St. Louis is dirty, as bed bugs will actually invade any place they can constantly feed. Any home, hotel, and business runs the risk of a bed bug infestation, regardless of cleanliness.
Bed bugs only consume the warm blood of mammals, so a bed bug invasion means that red bites on our skin are right around the corner. This is exactly why it is important to contact the pros at Pointe St. Louis as soon as possible. We are dedicated to eliminating every bed bug in an invasion, and will not consider the job to be done until each little bug is gone.
The Process of Infiltration
Since bed bugs do not have wings, they need to hitch a ride on anything they can. This can be anything from suitcases, to jackets, to purses. While hotels and other vacation residences have a higher risk of bed bugs due to the revolving door of people, other locations can still have bed bug problems for this same reason. Schools, restaurants, offices, movie theaters, and more have seen their fair share of bed bugs over the years. Basically anywhere that people are staying for an extended amount of time, bed bugs will thrive with the buffet in front of them.
Bed bugs are nocturnal and do all of their feeding at night, but that does not mean it is impossible to bring them home during the day. They need to stay in the dark as much as possible, but bed bugs can stay pressed into the fabric and sneakily latch onto our clothes or bags without us noticing. These pests are positively thigmotactic, meaning they can compress every part of their body to fit in the tightest of spaces. No matter the time of year or the type of clothes you wear, hungry bed bugs can still hitch a ride home with anyone.
The Introduction of an Invasion
Bed bugs like to be stationary as much as possible, so they will not live on the item they hitchhiked on forever. They will hide in mattresses or deep inside furniture until nighttime falls and everyone in the home is asleep. There are two main ways that bed bugs find their hosts every night. One is through the carbon dioxide we exhale, as this compound attracts bed bugs. Since we inhale and exhale more consistently when we sleep, bed bugs use the carbon dioxide to make their way to us and feed. The second way is through our body heat. Since bed bugs eat our warm blood, they are naturally drawn to warmth and the heat that our bodies naturally generate.
But the true problem lies in the event that a female bed bug is thrown into the mix. They lay up to 20 eggs from the nutrients gained from one feeding, and can continue buying eggs for days on end. The only requirement is that she needs to feed on our blood every day to have enough protein and nutrients for the eggs. The hatched eggs can then feed on the same host, which means a lot more bites for that unfortunate person. And if the bed bugs continue to reproduce in the same home, there is no telling just how many small bugs are feasting on your blood every night.
Infestation Signals
As troublesome and annoying as bed bugs are, it is impressive how many spaces they fit into in the average home. They are some of the sneakiest hiders out there, which explains the strange places that our technicians have found them. Besides the famous hiding spot in a mattress, bed bugs have also been found in couches, electrical outlets, rugs, drawers, and even behind wallpaper. Most bed bug invasions go undetected for a while because they stay in these shelters for so long.
Unless you want to tear up your house searching for these pests, the best place to start is looking at any bites that have accumulated. A bite from a bed is similar to that of other blood-suckers, like mosquitos and fleas. A red, itchy welt is fairly generic, but the true hint that bed bugs are the cause is all in the pattern. Whereas other bug bites are scattered, bed bugs tend to bite us in a line since they do not want to move around too much while feeding. They will also favor any exposed skin, which is why our legs and arms are often bitten the most.
Although we do not have to worry about bed bugs transmitting diseases to us, the amount of sleep that they disrupt is enough reason to eliminate them as soon as possible. People who naturally sleep more lightly will experience even more issues throughout the night, especially if the infestation is numbering in the hundreds.
The effects of a bedbug infestation are not only apparent on a person’s body. These pests many be difficult to find, but their stains certainly are not. When a human unknowingly rolls over and squishes a bed bug or two, there will be a mark left behind on the mattress and sheets. It will likely be reddish-brown because it is a disgusting mixture of our blood and the bug’s feces. It is also possible to find their egg casings and discarded skins in a larger infestation. If you believe you have an invasion, check your bedding and furniture for any of these bed bug remnants daily.
Official Bed Bug Treatment is Crucial
There are many products sold with the promise of solving a bed bug issue immediately. But the most effective way to solve any bed bug problem is to use professional pest control services. Bed bugs can hide until store-bought chemicals dissipate, as they can survive without blood for months. Since they can hide in tight spaces and latch onto any kind of clothing or bag, it is best to have bed bugs treated rather than wait them out. When your home is serviced by the caring technicians at Pointe St. Louis, you can be sure that we won’t consider the job to be done until we are sure that every bed bug is gone. Call us to regain your peace of mind with a bug-free night of sleep!
The Professional Pointe Difference
Our state-licensed technicians are trained to recognize the habits and life cycles of common pests, including bed bugs. We operate by using Integrated Pest Management (IPM), the combination of pest control methods that solve pest problems without relying solely on chemical treatments. When it comes to bed bugs, we sandwich the treatments in between inspections for the most thorough bed bug solutions. We inspect first to ensure that we know the primary locations of the bed bugs and the relative size of their group. The heat treatment we then use will take care of most, if not all, of the bed bugs as the house heats up. We essentially turn your home into a carefully-monitored, temporary oven that will kill the bed bugs once the temperature reaches about 122 degrees Fahrenheit. Our technicians also use liquid treatments in concentrated areas if it looks like the infestation needs it. We will then inspect every room again to make sure that all of the bed bugs are gone, and to clean up any bed bug remnants. We want you to have a bed bug-free home as soon as possible, especially since no one wants to sleep through the night in a bug-infested house!
Thanks to our experience and knowledge in treating bed bugs, our team is here to solve any bed bug issues you may have. Our technicians are happy to address every question and concern, and make the pest control process both productive and enjoyable. Our treatments are EPA-approved, and applied by our trained technicians, as the safety of you and your family is our top priority every time.
While the major treatments should be done by the pros, there are smaller methods you can use to ensure specific items are bed bug-free. Throw any stuffed animals, blankets, clothing, and pillows in the dryer, and run it on high for about 30 minutes. Check manufacturer instructions first to make sure the item will be okay. The heat will kill any bed bugs of all life stages. Inspect all luggage, backpacks, and purses for bed bugs, and use a disinfecting wipe to completely clean the bags. But for bed bug invasions, big or small, call the pros at Pointe St. Louis for complete bed bug elimination!
