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“I have no idea how this could have happened,” is a common thing to hear from someone who just discovered their home is lousy with bed bugs. In truth, most people don’t seem to have a good grasp on how bed bugs end up in their house. Well, we’re here to change that. Here are three reasons you have a bed bug infestation:
- You Use Public Transportation
This will require a bit of background, so bear with me.
Unlike more common pests, bed bugs don’t like to stay hidden within walls or other dark, moist places in your home. No, they prefer to settle down in close proximity to their primary food source: your blood. Therefore, the most common place to find bed bugs isn’t out in the wild somewhere – it’s on somebody’s mattress. Why does that matter? Because bed bugs are always in close proximity to humans, and it’s thanks to humans they’re able to move from place to place. Unbeknownst to humans, bed bugs will attach themselves to a personal item like a purse or a backpack, then tag along as their host goes about their day. If that person comes in close contact with you on the bus, one of those bed bugs can jump onto your personal belonging and voila, you’ve just introduced bed bugs into your home.
- You Frequent High Traffic Areas
A high traffic area is basically any place that has a wide variety of strangers in one place, such as a shopping mall or airport. These places will present the same problems as public transportation: With all of those people present, there’s a chance at least one of them has bed bugs on their belongings.
- You Buy Secondhand Furniture
I love a good bargain as much as the next person, but sometimes you can get more than you bargained for with secondhand furniture. You should inspect any secondhand piece of furniture for bed bugs, because this is a common way for them to infiltrate a home. Any piece of furniture with cushions or upholstery could have bed bugs, but they have also been known to hide on furniture made solely of wood for brief periods. Don’t let any used piece of furniture into your home without a thorough inspection.
