Starting to itch and scratch when you wake up in the morning? You might want to inspect your sheets.
Bed bugs don’t care if your home is clean or dirty. They can live anywhere, so long as they have a food source: blood. They do prefer warmer climates, especially warm-blooded hosts.
Female bed bugs can lay more than 200 eggs during their lifecycle, which then hatch and spread. If you think you have a bed bug problem, it’s important to contact a bed bug control company right away.
How easy is it to get bed bugs? Keep reading to find out! In this guide, we’ll discuss where these critters come from and how they’ll spread throughout your home.
Prepare yourself before the itching sets in with this guide on bed bugs!
Where Do Bed Bugs Come From?
When answering the question “how easy is it to get bed bugs?” you should probably know one thing first.
Bed bugs like to move.
Bed bugs take residence wherever they can find a human host. They’re found all over the world and throughout the country. While many people assume they’ve picked up a bed bug from a hotel, the list of places they reside is far more extensive.
Do bed bugs jump? Bed bugs are hitchhikers, allowing them to move from one place to the next. In fact, you might find bed bugs in:
- Transport vehicles (buses, trains, planes, cruises, taxi cabs)
- City Hall
- Colleges, high schools, middle schools, elementary schools
- Movie theaters
- Libraries
- Police stations
- Fire stations
- Office buildings
- Nursing homes
- Federal buildings
- Daycares
- Your workplace
- A friend or family member’s home
Bed bugs are often found in metropolitan cities, including these top 20 cities. Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and New York made it to the top of the list, but they can be found almost anywhere in the U.S.
Remember, bed bugs need a human host. Since they’re able to hitchhike, they often go where people go.
How Do They Spread?
In order to survive, bed bugs need blood meals from a warm-blooded (usually human) host. However, they’ll hide near other places until it’s time to eat. How quickly bed bugs move often depends on you.
Moving an infested piece of furniture, luggage, clothing, or another item makes it easier for bed bugs to spread. Then, they’ll move throughout your home in search of other hosts. If the conditions are ideal, the bed bugs will then breed and continue spreading.
Each time you travel, you’re giving those bed bugs a chance to move somewhere else.
How do bed bugs travel, anyway?
Sometimes they move from one site to the next by latching onto your possessions. For example, a bed bug might hide away in your clothes, bedding, boxes, furniture, or luggage. When you move that item into another room or location, they’ve found a new place to explore.
Bed bugs are most prevalent in locations with a high rate of overnight guests. For example, bed bugs love hotels and hospitals.
Bed bugs can’t fly. However, they are speedy crawlers. Another way bed bugs travel is by sprinting between hiding places.
They’ll tuck away in their new hiding spot, then wait until it’s feeding time to emerge.
The third way bed bugs travel is by breeding. After they feed, bed bugs hide in their secret locations to digest their meals. If the conditions are right, they’ll mate.
Larva can mature into an adult within one to two months. Each bed bug lives between four months and a year when left undetected. If you fail to call the professionals right away, bed bugs can continue feeding, breeding, and evading detection throughout your home.
Possible Scenarios
There are a few different ways you might end up with bed bugs within a single trip. Here are a few scenarios that might allow bed bugs to infest your home.
If you plan on spending the night at a hotel or resort, make sure to check for bed bugs before and after your stay.
When using public transportation, keep an eye out for bed bugs crawling on the seats.
Guests who stay at your home might bring in bed bugs without realizing it. After they leave, make sure to wash and dry the bedding at the hottest possible temperatures.
Playdates are an opportunity for you to attract bed bugs, too. Examine any items your children bring home with them and don’t forget to check the seams of their backpack as well.
You might end up bringing bed bugs in from work. Take a look at your office desk, work area, and the carpet. Examine your clothes before getting into your car to drive home as well.
The bites from bed bugs will appear as a line or cluster. They’re often surrounded by a rash. If you start to notice a skin reaction, check your home for bed bugs.
Learning how to spot a bed bug infestation can help you treat the issue as soon as possible.
Spreading Between Hosts
Remember, bed bugs need blood meals to survive. They also need that blood to breed and spread. However, bed bugs don’t live on human hosts.
Talking about how easy it is to get bed bugs, you’ve probably noticed they spread through possessions, not actual people. For example, a houseguest could bring bed bugs into your home, but they’re not the carrier. It’s more likely the bed bugs were clinging to an article of clothing or a bag.
Bed bugs are opportunistic creatures. They’ll hide and wait until it’s an ideal time to feed. Usually, this is when you’re asleep.
Uninvited, Fast-Spreading Pests: How Easy Is It to Get Bed Bugs?
So, how easy is it to get bed bugs?
Bringing bed bugs into your home is really a chance of misfortune. But, if you detect and treat the problem quickly, you won’t have to worry about the bed bugs for long. Delays, however, can give bed bugs the chance to hide in your clothes, luggage, and other possessions. This could lead to you being the cause of spreading these pests into other locations.
Bed bugs won’t just crawl off on their own so call in the pros as soon as you notice them on your property. Contact us today for a free service estimate.
