“Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite.” It’s a cute rhyme parents tell their children as they tuck them into bed. But bed bug infestations aren’t so cute. These blood-sucking insects are highly resilient, and they can leave painful rashes and bite marks on their victims.

If you think you have bed bugs, you’ve come to in the right place! For more than 75 years, Senske Pest Control experts have been protecting homeowners’ health and property by eliminating troublesome pests from their homes. Bed bugs are just one of those troublesome pests.

Bed bugs are small insects that belong to the same order that include the “true bugs” like stink bugs and aphids. They all have sucking mouth parts. Bed bugs are only about ¼ inch in length, usually about the same in width and are very flat.

Their feeding may cause irritation, and the irritation may become infected from scratching. They have been found to carry up to 28 diseases. New research by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has shown that bed bugs ​do not transmit diseases to humans.

Bed bugs differ from many other blood feeding pests such as mosquitoes and fleas, because all bed bugs – males and females, young and adult – feed on blood. Once they have fed they return back to their hidden resting places.  Bed bugs can continue to survive for many months without a blood meal – even up to a year or more!

Call today at (877) 944-4007 or request an estimate online for FREE to learn about the different methods of controlling and eliminating bed bugs.

Were you paying attention in high school biology? Not to worry, we were and that is one of the reasons to engage a professional pest control company to take care of your home and protect your family from bothersome pests like bedbugs and spiders.

Bed bugs are part of a group of blood feeding insects that contain closely related cousins with similar behavior but completely different hosts – that is, the source of the blood they live on.

There are about 88 species worldwide of bed bugs and their cousins. They’re notorious as parasites of birds and mammals, including humans, with an interesting reproductive behavior. And their persistence, as evidenced by the increasing numbers of household infestations on a global scale, make them a challenge to control. Certainly, they are a challenge to live with.

There are only 12 species of bed bug related cousins found in the continental United States that feed on birds, bats and other mammals, and only three species in the world that use humans as hosts. Two of the human-hosted bed bug species are not normally found in the U.S. but instead live in tropical regions of the world. That’s the good news … we are normally concerned with only one animal that is sharing our bed with us, and we can use their biological habits to control them.

If you think you may have bed bugs, call Senske Pest Control today at (877) 944-4007 or click to request an estimate.  Many strategies of bed bug treatment and control are available. You’ll have peace of mind as one of our professional exterminators finds the right solution for you.

Bed bugs are oval shaped, about a quarter of an inch in length and about the same width. They are very flat and can slide into very narrow cracks, seams and under bindings in bedding and furniture. They grow from eggs that hatch in about seven days, through five development stages we call nymphs, to the adult bed bug. All stages of the life cycle except the egg stage feed on human blood. Each life stage requires a blood feeding before developing to the next stage.

Under ideal conditions the development of bed bugs goes from egg to adult in about 45 to 60 days. Under ideal conditions of room temperature and normal feeding, they generally live just several months. It is not uncommon for them to be able to survive for up to a year or longer, even without a blood meal.

Females can lay five to seven eggs per day and about 500 in a lifetime.

Bed bugs usually feed at night when people are asleep because the hosts are unaware that they are being fed upon. As bed bugs feed, they inject a salivary secretion into the wound to prevent coagulation. This fluid often causes the skin to itch and become swollen. Scratching causes sores, which may become infected.  Bed bugs are not known to transmit any human pathogens but can cause emotional distress to those affected.

If you think you may have bed bugs, call Senske Pest Control today at (877) 944-4007 or click to Request an Estimate. There are many control strategies available, and you need a professional to help you find the correct solution.

It is not entirely clear why the increased frequency of bed bugs has hit the United States recently. There are several reasons why we are just now hearing more about bed bugs.  The reintroduction of bed bugs into our lives started about twenty years ago with more frequent reports of bed bugs in hotels. This is likely due to ‘hitchhikers’ that came on board travelers as the frequency of travel increased, not only domestically, but also internationally.

Pest control strategies started to change in the hospitality industry at about the same time there was a resurgence of bed bugs.  It was once common to spray hotel rooms with sprays along the baseboards for control of a broad list of pests. The few bed bugs that were transferred by travelers were likely caught up by the routine pest control procedures.

That strategy changed at about the time bed bugs started to rear their ugly heads. We started being more specific in how we controlled pests in sensitive living and food prep areas. Baits and very specific biological controls were introduced into the processes we used, and bed bugs were caught up in the net of routine pest control services.

Not to worry. Bed bugs aren’t about sanitation. In fact, a clean house has little to do with where the bed bugs came from. There are many possibilities, but you likely played a role.

Bed bugs are good hitch hikers. If you have traveled, you more than likely have encountered bed bugs along the way. They may have jumped aboard your luggage or clothing, and unknowingly, you let them stowaway in your travels.

Other ways that have become more common in our modern lifestyle is a reflection of how we live. Rented furniture and reconditioned mattresses can be a source. Delivery vans that come to your home or business may have become infested and the bed bug took one look at your home from the cold van and saw a nice sirloin steak awaiting them.   And, yes, if you live in multi-family apartments and/or condominiums, there is a possibility that they made their way to your home from the attached neighbors.