Hiding among your everyday belongings only to come out and feed when you are least suspecting it. This is the life of a
bed bug. Combine this with their quick-witted demeanor, and it is easy to see why exterminators are calling these creatures one of the most cryptic in the world. These creatures will go out of their way to avoid detection. This and the fact that adults only measure in at the size of an apple seed certainly makes them a pain to deal with. It helps by knowing all the potential and preferred hiding spots of these creatures. That’s what you are about to learn!
Common Bed Bug Hiding Places
Box Springs And Mattresses
Given their name, it is probably an automatic assumption that
bed bugs like to hide in the bedroom or mattress. The bedroom is one of the most common rooms in the home that
bed bugs will take up residence in. This is because it allows them to be near their hosts. These critters sense human body heat, expelled CO2, and kairomones. Combine this with the fact that you spend a third of your life sleeping, and it’s easy to see why bed bugs prefer to attack when their victims are sleeping.
Crack And Crevices In Bed Frames
Most bed frames are wood or at the very least contain some kind of wood. While wood is naturally beautiful, it does crack, wrap, and bow over time. There is nothing wrong with this, but the separation of the wood does create openings. Openings that
bed bugs can squeeze their bodies into. In the headboard and the footboards where they connect to the side rails. These are some of the most common spots you’ll find bed bugs.
Bedding/Linen
Bed bugs love the bedroom. They prefer the bed, does it come as a huge surprise that they’ll take up residence in your linen and sheets? If it does, it shouldn’t! In addition to venturing into your mattresses and box springs, they’ll also get in your sheets, pillowcases, quilts, comforters, and even in the drapes. This is no doubt troubling, but there is one upside to the locations. They are usually right on the surface.
Bed bugs can’t typically burrow into them. They can a pillowcase, but with your drapes and sheets, you’ll likely find bugs just sitting on top of them. It also helps to look for black or reddish-brown stains. This could be a good indication of dried blood or fecal matter.
Rugs And Carpet
Give the location above, you wouldn’t think that rugs and carpets would provide an ideal residence for bed bugs. Well, you would be wrong! It might not seem like it, but rugs and carpets are a suitable place for bed bugs. The thing that probably helps is, these items are usually installed in the bedroom.
Couches/Upholstered Furniture
A couch or a piece of old upholstered furniture is like a bed. It provides 100 possible hiding places within. This is probably why these items are a chosen hiding spot for bed bugs. They’ll oftentimes comes out of hiding, scurry their way across the carpet or rugs, and make their way to your furniture and take up residence. A lot of people take naps or even sleep on these items, which is probably a big reason for the attraction as well.
Surprising Hiding Spots Bed Bugs Hide
You just learned about some of the typical places that bed bugs will hang up, but these are not the only locations they’ll take up residence. That being said, some of these other locations might be more surprising. However, it is knowing these locations that could be the difference between detecting bed bugs and not detecting them.
Luggage
Who wants to arrive home from a long, glorious vacation only to discover they are dealing with a bed bug infestation? No one does, but unfortunately, this is becoming a more and more common occurrence. These pests are being more commonly spotted in hotel rooms and hotels where unsuspecting guests offer unlimited snacking. The troubling part is, any bed bug hanging out in a hotel room can easily and quickly hitch its way in your open luggage. They can even get on your clothes or shoes, but it will be the suitcases that are the first option.
Wall Decor
Did you know that a family portrait hanging above the bed could be housing bed bugs? Not a lot of people are aware of this, but that is the case. Bed bugs are drawn to dark, damp spaces, and that’s exactly what a picture frame offers. Makes you think twice about buying second-hand pictures, doesn’t it? If it doesn’t, it should because this could be one of the easiest ways to introduce a bed bug infestation in your home unsuspectingly.
Books
Want to read all about bed bugs and discover more information? Maybe you are looking for some fun, exciting facts. Whatever the situation, you don’t want to open one of your favorites to only have the creatures come scurrying out. This is entirely possible in an infected area. That being said, bed bugs will most likely take up residence in the spine and behind the covers rather than between the pages.
Nightstands
They are dark, they are damp, and they are usually installed in the bedroom. Is there more a bed bug could want? No! This is why the nightstand makes the perfect residence for a bed bug. Just like furniture and the bed, this hiding place provides access to additional hiding spaces within one.
Electronics
Any home today is packed with electrical devices. PCs, laptops, iPods, and you practically name it. There is just about an electrical device for everything these days. This is pretty troubling when you consider the fact that bed bugs can inhabit these items. That’s right, bed bugs can crawl and nestle their way into your favorite gaming device. It’s probably the heat from the electrical components that draws them in mainly, but when you consider the damage they pose, it just makes the infestation all that more troubling.
