Bedbugs

I was reading where the incidence of bedbug infestation has been on the rise in the United States and it crosses class barriers. It seems to be due to increased international travel and decreased use of certain pesticides. On the upside, these pesticides are carcinogenic, so less is better. Also, bedbugs, though vile, are generally not vectors for disease the way fleas, ticks and mosquitoes are.

I work in an upscale retirement community and we do have folks here who still travel frequently. We have had a few instances of bedbugs. The interesting thing about bedbugs is that they do not hide in mattresses the way many people think. They hide in the cracks of the bed, or in surrounding furniture. There are nontoxic powders containing diatoms that can be sprinkled in the cracks of furniture.

My ex husband rides the bus that comes from the airport when he comes to visit our son on the weekends. A couple of times bedbugs have hitched a ride on his backpack. I've eradicated them using this type of powder a couple of times. But it's kind of like a Stephen King story. They come back. I'll know they're back when I find itchy bites on my arms. Bastards!

For all their persistence, bedbugs are not high on the intelligence scale. At work last night I was doing something on the computer. I turned around to look at my lab book and there, bold as brass, sat a bedbug. Right in the middle of the lab book. Big sucker it was too. (For a bedbug, big is about the size of a pin head.) Had gotten fat and happy feasting off the blood of the elderly and was now coming to see me. I grabbed a Kleenex, plucked it off my book, and squashed it. That will teach it to be cocky!

It's nice to know that there are non-poisonous methods of dealing with these miniature vampires. Perhaps my next book should be titled Night of the Bedbug. Now that's a real vampire, and a real nightmare!