The Thing about Bed Bugs
Published at 10:25 on 19 November 2014
If it wasn’t the case that:
- Most people react adversely to their bites, and
- They breed like crazy
Then bed bugs would be more of a “meh” thing. I’d probably crush them when I found them but I wouldn’t turn my life upside down waging war on them.
Most people are really squicked by the concept of parasites, but they’re no big deal if all one gets is a very light, asymptomatic infestation. The majority of people, even in the wealthiest nations, harbor demodex mites on their bodies and don’t even know it.
Unfortunately, most people do react adversely to bed bug bites, and even for those of use who don’t, we don’t want guests or neighbors to suffer or for our homes to end up like this (which they will if the bugs are allowed to breed unhindered).
So, it’s war.
Which for me is moving on to the “move, and have the moving van fumigated between here and there” phase.
I’d like to be a little more certain of how well the bugs have been knocked down by the two existing treatments my apartment has had before I move, but then again, said uncertainty is precisely the reason I’m having the moving van fumigated in the first place.