Best pest control specialists near Big Run, PA

Bed bugs bite your body to feed on blood. When they bite, they inject an anticoagulant, which is why you may see blood stains on your sheets if you have an infestation. The bed bugs tend to bite in clusters, so the bite marks will look like itchy, red spots in zigzagging lines of three to five bites per cluster on your skin.

The bites are itchy, but for most people, they do not cause serious or long-term health complications. Itching the wound excessively could lead to an infection, and some people are allergic to bed bugs.

The safest ways to treat bed bugs are non-chemical, such as using diatomaceous earth, essential oils, and heat and cold treatments. Heat treatments are also one of the most effective methods because it kills bed bugs at all levels of life stages: eggs, nymphs, and adults. However, you still need to take precautions by removing items that can be susceptible to heat damage. You also need to remove plants and pets from your home during treatment.

According to the National Pesticide Information Center, there aren’t any insect repellents registered for use against bed bugs that can be put on your skin. Some people may utilize diluted essential oils on their skin to try to repel bed bugs, but this is not considered effective for remedying the problem. The best way to repel bed bugs is to treat them with a non-toxic method to rid them from your home.

Vinegar can keep some animals at bay, like deer, rabbits, foxes, and raccoons. Keep in mind that your household pets, like cats and dogs, also don’t like the smell of vinegar. You can soak rags in white vinegar and put them up around your garden beds to keep the pesky critters from eating your plants.