I am not sure if it is the unusual weather, or just that people are travelling more, but we are getting and increasing number of calls for bedbugs in the Newbury and Thatcham area at the moment. This weekend, we had a call from a client who suspected they might have bedbugs and could we just pop over and confirm this.
It is important to check before performing a treatment to ensure the diagnosis is correct and to only use the most appropriate treatments for each problem. As I walked in the house, the client proudly presented me with a glass, which contained one of the offending insects found … and sure enough, there was a perfectly formed, adult Cimex lectularius (bedbug).
It is quite unusual for a client to catch one, especially this big and alive, so I enquired as to how it was caught – the answer totally horrified me!
The infestation is centred in one of the daughter’s bedrooms. She had noticed that she was having some bite type bumps appearing, so Mum took her to the doctor. Unfortunately, the doctor did not register that this may have been bedbug bites, so sent them off to an allergy clinic and blood tests etc. which also failed to make a connection that this might be bedbug bites. The family was only alerted to the bedbug route when the daughter had a bedbug crawl INSIDE her ear! This is the one they caught… most disturbing!
Having spoken to the daughter, she said she also saw a few things crawling out from under the mattress at one point, but never bother too much about them…never having really heard of a bedbug before. Anyway, with such a clear-cut case, we did not really need to go any further with the inspection, but Mum insisted we looked, so I went into the bedroom (having sprayed feet and donned boots and gloves). It was a typical teenage bedroom – and looked like a bomb had gone off in it. I lifted the bed cover and within 5 seconds found a large, fully fed adult bedbug in the mattress crease.
So no further action to take but leave the room, apply a barrier spray at the threshold and go and break the news to the client.
Dealing with bedbugs is a team event – the client must do certain things to help contain the problem and clear the room (under strict guidelines we provide them), so that we can do our part in ridding them of this horrid problem and applying the appropriate bedbug treatments.
At Rapid Pest Control, we follow tried and tested methods and processes which we have developed over a number of years experience, so this helps us solve the issues quickly and effectively – providing the client follows our instructions.
When we arrived to perform the treatment, the client had cleared out most of the clothes etc. in sealed bags and washed them at high temperature, and placed lots of stuff in bags ready to be inspected and treated. I have to say, this client was a model client (unlike most!) and followed our instructions to the letter, making the whole treatment process much more effective.
Their daughter had opted to throw lots of stuff away, again giving a great opportunity to de-clutter. This included getting rid of the bed and mattress, which she was not prepared to sleep on again (I could actually not blame her!).
So with a relatively clean slate, we started our inspection and treatment. As we started to bag up the mattress, several bedbugs were very obvious and we saw a very unusual thing – a female bedbug laying and tending a clutch of eggs. She was oblivious to her pending demise, so we got some shots and video with the digital microscope of this unique event.
Then the bedstead was taken apart to reveal the real source of the problem – an extremely large cluster of bedbug skins, juveniles, eggs, adults – you name it and it was here. We very soon had this lot in bags and treated to ensure certain death.
After dealing with this room, we inspected the other bedrooms and saw no evidence of any spread, which is pretty miraculous under the circumstances really as nobody knew this was bedbugs until this week, and this has been on-going now for approximately 3 months! We will be monitoring the situation closely after our final inspection visit in 7 days.
If you are getting bitten, or have what looks like bites, please go onto our website and take a look at our blog for signs of bedbugs. We are happy to chat with you and even do a bedbug inspection visit (a small fee may apply) to confirm one way or another if you have bedbugs.
Contact us now for bedbug control and advice. With local offices in Newbury, Oxford, Reading, Swindon and Basingstoke, you know we are there to help you.
One thing we did get was some unique footage of bedbug activity, some amazing close up shots of bedbugs, cast skins and bedbug eggs – some of which are below:
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