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If there is any species that needs to be wiped out it’s the bed bug, along with the various types of mosquitos. I had an infestation earlier this year and was able to get rid of them by replacing the mattress. For the past few months there haven’t been signs of any activity, yet the other day I could feel something crawling over me and lo and behold the parasites were back.
I’m surprised they just popped up out of the blue. I was mostly vacuuming and using pesticides in the past, but that never really stopped them. It also doesn’t seem like hygiene plays a big role in their presence either.
I really hope humans find a way to eradicate this parasite once and for all.
I heartily concur. Bed bug are THE worst parasite extant. They were just about gone from the US but huge influx of immigrants from places they are commonplace have brought them new life. I had an infestation in a place I was living a couple years ago.
I tried everything, no joy. I finally burned my mattress, pulled the frame outside and washed it, power vacced every nook an cranny, and finally got rid of them. They were so bad I couldn't even sit down on the bed at any time of day without them popping up out of everywhere to get at me. It was SO nasty even to just think about what might happen trying to sleep on the bed.
I think maybe DDT needs to be approved for use limited to indoors and for treatment of bedbugs. That kills them.
The problem with DDT was involved with some species of birds. If the DDT is limited to indoor use, it should not affect birds. This bedbug thing is a plague and really calls for emergency measures.
My Neighbor got Bed Bugs , again! ugh this time they treated it with Heat! I know they had to do this BUT why in the H didn't they warn me! Generator running ALL Day at my Bedroom window was NOT fun!
I think maybe DDT needs to be approved for use limited to indoors and for treatment of bedbugs. That kills them.
The problem with DDT was involved with some species of birds. If the DDT is limited to indoor use, it should not affect birds. This bedbug thing is a plague and really calls for emergency measures.
FYI, using a persistent toxin like DDT affects more than birds. One reason DDT finally "made the news" in the US was because it built up in the fatty tissue of bald eagles, the national bird. DDT affects hundreds of other species because it gets absorbed permanently in the tissues of most animals exposed to it in air, water, plants, or soil. It isn't released or excreted. It wasn't filtered out or neutralized by anything. It is a suspected carcinogen. When a predator eats contaminated prey IT gets all the accumulation present in the prey and builds up in THEIR tissues (so consider that if you happen to eat eggs, fish, meat, milk, anything that comes from another animal). The effect is multiplied to the point it damages the predator the most. In the case of the eagle (and hawks and falcons BTW), DDT caused thinning of the birds' egg shells. The eggs were so damaged that they broke under the weight of the female incubating them. So, no baby eagles, falcons, hawks. Populations crashed. Once DDT was banned and the adult birds with body accumulations died, the cycle was broken at least in the US.
DDT is still used in some places, still persists in water, soil, and plants in some places, and still has effects decades after most use was banned. So if you think using something like this indoors won't cause harm, think again. All the water the treated house uses will carry it someplace else. The materials used to build the house probably absorbed it and will release it to the environment eventually. The humans living in the house will also absorb it and the effect can be magnified as we are also at the top of our food chains. So, a decision to use it has very long term consequences. If you want to read more about its persistence and harm, here's a link:
What would be the best way to ensure they never come back, if that’s even possible to prevent?
I’ve never encountered them in the last, it’s only when I first moved in to this place that they started popping up. I was pretty slow at picking up on what was going on at first. I just kept seeing blood stains all over the bed sheets and pillow until one day I finally awoke at night and saw them. Got rid of them for a while and now they’re back.
They were just about gone from the US but huge influx of immigrants from places they are commonplace have brought them new life.
Are we allowed to say that? Even if it is a fact?
Never heard of bed bugs in Australia until our politicians opened our doors to immigrants from 3rd world countries.
(Makes me wonder if this is part of the 'wonders of cultural diversity' that they keep parroting?)
Never heard of bed bugs in Australia until our politicians opened our doors to immigrants from 3rd world countries.
(Makes me wonder if this is part of the 'wonders of cultural diversity' that they keep parroting?)
Mexico, the ME, E Europe, and African nations like Somalia bed bugs have always been present. The places that still have problems don't have any counter measures for them. And the little nasties are consummate hitch hikers. They squeeze in places smoke can't go.
They were mostly eradicated here until fairly recently and are spreading fast. No pesticide will touch them. Physical measures are all that really work. Either getting an infested place up to over 120 degrees or below freezing and holding it for a spell will do it. But the eggs will survive sooooo...they are flat tough to get rid of. I can't even imagine what it will be like if they really catch their footing and whole communities start having problems. It's an issue needs looking at.
FYI, using a persistent toxin like DDT affects more than birds. One reason DDT finally "made the news" in the US was because it built up in the fatty tissue of bald eagles, the national bird. DDT affects hundreds of other species because it gets absorbed permanently in the tissues of most animals exposed to it in air, water, plants, or soil. It isn't released or excreted. It wasn't filtered out or neutralized by anything. It is a suspected carcinogen. When a predator eats contaminated prey IT gets all the accumulation present in the prey and builds up in THEIR tissues (so consider that if you happen to eat eggs, fish, meat, milk, anything that comes from another animal). The effect is multiplied to the point it damages the predator the most. In the case of the eagle (and hawks and falcons BTW), DDT caused thinning of the birds' egg shells. The eggs were so damaged that they broke under the weight of the female incubating them. So, no baby eagles, falcons, hawks. Populations crashed. Once DDT was banned and the adult birds with body accumulations died, the cycle was broken at least in the US.
DDT is still used in some places, still persists in water, soil, and plants in some places, and still has effects decades after most use was banned. So if you think using something like this indoors won't cause harm, think again. All the water the treated house uses will carry it someplace else. The materials used to build the house probably absorbed it and will release it to the environment eventually. The humans living in the house will also absorb it and the effect can be magnified as we are also at the top of our food chains. So, a decision to use it has very long term consequences. If you want to read more about its persistence and harm, here's a link:
Just a brief excerpt from the Wikipedia bio of William Ruckleshaus, the lawyer responsible for the ban of DDT:
"With the formation of EPA, authority over pesticides was transferred to it from the Department of Agriculture. The fledgling EPA's first order of business was whether to issue a ban of DDT. Judge Edmund Sweeney was appointed to examine the case and held testimony hearings for seven months. His conclusion was that DDT “is not a carcinogenic hazard to man" and that "there is a present need for the essential uses of DDT."
However, Ruckelshaus, who had not attended the hearings or read the report himself, overruled Sweeney's decision and issued the ban nevertheless, claiming that DDT was a "potential human carcinogen."
I am not going to argue with this poster. Anyone who is truly interested in the issue of DDT should do some research into how the ban came about, and how DDT was considered a miracle substance before the hysteria over it and then make up their own minds. Interesting article from the NYT, 2004:
Used properly and in the correct quantities (just like many of the prescription drugs that people take), it is more beneficial than it is harmful and it is the reason that the bedbug was all but eradicated in the US. It will make a comeback.
PS: Anyone considering the purchase of a piece of used furniture, not just bedding but ANY used furniture, especially sofas and chairs, should go on line and look up how to test it for bedbugs BEFORE purchasing it. There are some excellent youtube videos on the subject. It can save you some major aggravation.
Mexico, the ME, E Europe, and African nations like Somalia bed bugs have always been present. The places that still have problems don't have any counter measures for them. And the little nasties are consummate hitch hikers. They squeeze in places smoke can't go.
They were mostly eradicated here until fairly recently and are spreading fast. No pesticide will touch them. Physical measures are all that really work. Either getting an infested place up to over 120 degrees or below freezing and holding it for a spell will do it. But the eggs will survive sooooo...they are flat tough to get rid of. I can't even imagine what it will be like if they really catch their footing and whole communities start having problems. It's an issue needs looking at.
M.E. & African immigrants such as the Sudanese & Somali have also brought back other wonderful things (apart from violent crime) like whooping cough, TB & introduced some very nasty things like a bacteria that ravages the skin. Off-course MSM completely ignores these issues.
I can't even imagine what it would be like for my home to be infested with dirty things that feast upon ones blood at night. It'd be a nightmare especially if one has kids at home. It was upsetting enough when my boy would come from his mothers covered in mosquito bites.
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No pesticide will touch them. Physical measures are all that really work. Either getting an infested place up to over 120 degrees or below freezing and holding it for a spell will do it. But the eggs will survive sooooo...they are flat tough to get rid of. I can't even imagine what it will be like if they really catch their footing and whole communities start having problems. It's an issue needs looking at.
