Property Shield Pest Control

Great for you, bad for bugs.

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Heading Home for the Holidays? Don’t Bring Bed Bugs Back With You

Every year we see the same pattern. A few weeks after Thanksgiving and Christmas, the bed bug calls start coming in. Bed bugs do not come from dirty houses. They travel in luggage, coats and bags, and the holidays put a lot of luggage on the move.

Watch our short video on bed bugs:

A few simple habits make a big difference.

When you arrive

  • Before you unpack, set your bag in the bathroom or on a luggage rack, not on the bed or carpet.
  • Pull back the sheets and check the mattress seams and corners, especially near the headboard. Look for small dark spots, shed skins or the bugs themselves.
  • Keep your suitcase zipped when you are not using it.

When you get home

  • Unpack in the garage or another hard-floored room, not the bedroom.
  • Run everything that can take the heat through the dryer on high for at least 30 minutes, even clean clothes. Heat kills bed bugs and their eggs.
  • Check your suitcase seams and zippers before you put it away. Storing it in a sealed plastic bag is cheap insurance.

When guests come to you

It can feel awkward, but it is fine to ask a guest if they have had bed bug trouble. If they have, toss their things in the dryer when they arrive and keep their luggage off beds and couches.

What does not work

Store-bought bug bombs and sprays do not get rid of bed bugs. They scatter them deeper into walls and furniture and make the problem harder to treat.

If you think you brought some home, the sooner you call, the easier and cheaper it is to fix. We have a bed bug protocol that works without turning your house into an oven. Call 208-889-9222 or read more on our bed bug page.

Related: bed bug treatment in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, the free guide 8 Secrets Pest Control Companies Don’t Want You to Know, or request a free quote.

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Fall Is Here and the Bugs Want In: Keeping Pests Out This Season

The first cold nights in North Idaho and the Spokane area always bring the same phone calls. The bugs and critters that spent the summer outside have figured out that winter is coming, and your house looks like a great place to wait it out.

Here is what we see every fall, and what you can do about it.

Who is trying to move in

Mice. A mouse can squeeze through a gap about the size of a pencil. Once nights drop near freezing, they head for garages, crawl spaces, wall voids and pantries.

Stink bugs and boxelder bugs. These two gather on sunny south and west walls on warm fall afternoons, then crawl into cracks around windows, siding and attic vents. They do not bite or breed indoors over winter, but they show up by the dozen on the first warm day of spring.

Spiders. Fall is when many spiders mature and go looking for mates, so you notice more of them in basements and garages.

Wasps and yellow jackets. Late-season yellow jackets get hungry and cranky. Nests in walls and eaves are worth dealing with before they get bigger next year.

What you can do this weekend

  • Walk around your house and look for gaps around pipes, wires, dryer vents and the garage door. Seal small gaps with caulk and stuff larger ones with steel wool before sealing.
  • Check window screens and door sweeps. Daylight under a door means bugs can get in.
  • Move firewood, leaf piles and stored boxes away from the foundation.
  • Trim shrubs and branches so they do not touch the house.
  • Store bird seed, pet food and grass seed in sealed bins, not bags.

Where we come in

A fall treatment around the outside of your home creates a barrier before pests settle in for winter. Our quarterly service is built for exactly this: one visit each season, timed to what the bugs are doing right then. And we never charge a sign-up fee.

When you call Property Shield, you talk to an owner, and the same person who makes your plan does your service. Call 208-889-9222 or request a free quote.

Related: residential pest control, the free guide 8 Secrets Pest Control Companies Don’t Want You to Know, or request a free quote.

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Bed bug season, what does that really mean?

Bed bug season (or the time of the year when we hear the most about them) is starting early this year. A few people have asked us why.

Could it be that bed bugs are more common? Is it because people’s awareness is increasing? Or is it just that time of the year? For the first two we are inclined to say yes. As for the last, there may be a little more to it.

Under optimal conditions, when temperatures are between 83-90° with a humidity between 75-80%, bed bugs take 4-5 weeks to complete their life cycle. Currently we are around 12 weeks out from Thanksgiving and around 7 weeks from Christmas. These are the most traveled holidays in the year, and almost everyone has a holiday visitor or two.

Keep in mind that under the best of conditions bed bugs need 4-5 weeks to complete their life cycle. Is your home or guest “room” always in optimal condition? Probably not. This leads us to believe that the “bed bug season” is more about exposure and climate conditions (in the exposed area) affecting the propagation period of bed bugs.

 

So what can you do to reduce your risk of getting the dreaded Bed Bugs?

 

Ask anyone that will be staying with you, if they have had any issues with bed bugs in the past.

This may seem overly simple and, quite possibly, awkward. If it were my house, I would be more concerned about limiting my exposure and not having to deal with bed bugs, than asking an uncomfortable question. If someone has had an issue, when they arrive, launder all their items. Use the highest heat setting on the dryer that is safe for the items. Tell them to go take a relaxing shower and you will toss the stuff through the wash. After all bed bugs can hide in the clothes they are wearing…

 

Do you have children that go to school?

Not only can bed bugs hide on clothes they also love to hide in and on bags. If items are stored closely together the bed bugs can transfer from one item to another. This is true anywhere items are in close proximity. If clothing articles, bags, or other items are in an area that have bed bugs there is a chance of them hiding on the items and hitching a ride home with you or your children. Inspect coats and backpacks. A cautious person may consider inspecting coat and bag storage areas at your child’s school…

 

Take a very close look at any second hand items BEFORE they are brought into your home. Investigate in every place you can imagine. If there is a cloth covering the bottom of something, remove it OUTSIDE of your home and inspect the exposed corners and any place you can get eyes on. We have had some complaints about this. I am not sure about you, but I have never had a house guest flip over my couch just to check if the cloth on the bottom was intact. Friendly advice: If your “friends” get all judgmental about the bottom cloth missing, you probably don’t need that negativity in your life.

 

We hope you NEVER have to deal with bed bugs. If you ever do or know someone that needs help don’t hesitate to give us a call. We will be happy to answer whatever questions we can.

Our number is 208-889-9222!

For more info click the link below.

https://propertyshield.net/bed-bugs/

 

Related: bed bug treatment in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, the free guide 8 Secrets Pest Control Companies Don’t Want You to Know, or request a free quote.