Bed bugs are taking over New York City. It’s true. And the NYT released an article today answering pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about the small horrible creatures.
I’m really curious as to why they emit a sweet smell; one we can’t smell with our noses but still, a sweet smell is released. Why? And, gross.
I think we may have had bed bugs when we lived in the giant loft on Manhattan Avenue but Tobyjoe seems to think they were mosquitoes eating me alive because he was never bitten and I was chewed up. I have no idea. Either way, they are horrible and I know several people who have been forever scarred by them. Apparently, it’s a horrible experience to go through. I am knocking on wood we never have to experience such a thing.
(Thanks to Erica for the link.)
If you have bedbugs, you’ll notice a few telltale signs:
a) the bites are more welt-like
b) you don’t get one or two, you get like 20-200 in clusters
chances are you have mosquitos of some kind
i just had them (mosquitos). its finally cold enough that they’re gone. but i’d have trouble sleeping and needed to take pills and wear repellant at night—or i’d get like 5-10 scratches anywhere that was exposed.
i also had a rug infested with moth & carpet beetle larvae. i thought that was a bedbug problem at first, but i had the specimens checked.
I came across bedbugs at a motel I stayed at in the spring…. didn’t know what they were, and bites didn’t show up for NINE days (by then we had changed rooms, looked up pictures of the wee buggers and thought we were going to be okay). Once the bites showed up (by then I was at home) I was convinced I had brought them into my apartment. Several sleepless nights later (the sudden turn on of light and check underneath pilllow to see if they were coming out at night) finally I realized that it can take up to NINE days for bites to appear. And that the whole experience can be quite emotionally scarring. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone (and I didn’t even have them in my apartment!).
The moral is: if you are ever staying in a motel/hotel, no matter of the quality, check the mattress/behind the headboard. If you are suspicious, don’t stay there.
you COULD have had bed bugs. It is typical that 30-50% of people are NOT affected by bed bugs. So often, a man will be unbitten and his girlfriend eaten alive. Sometimes men are bitten, but women are bitten more than men. And if you havea small bed bug problem it is possible to have a few bites. At first.