Bed bugs

[User482]

Nasty. I was attacked by the little blighters last year, when travelling in the Bolivian jungle. Despite having taken a clean sleeping sheet with me, they managed to bite me from my ankles to my neck, and the bites took ages to disappear. My wife contracted dengue fever at the same time - all in all, not the most successful of trips...

 

[goo_mason]

Nasty. I had the little swines return just before Easter. Turns out that I get them from the building through my bedroom wall: a block of flats owned by a housing association, and they were infested last year around the time I had them my original problem. As soon as I saw them in my place in April, I phoned the housing association and asked them if they'd go in and check all of their properties. "It's OK", said the woman. "We're already aware that there's a major problem with bedbugs in many of the properties again and we're having them treated by a different company with different chemicals in the next two weeks".

Used a different company myself too this time, cost me half of what it did before for double the number of treatments and I didn't need to empty the rooms either. Seems to have got rid of the problem again.

Fingers crossed that the flats through the wall had theirs done as successfully so they don't re-infest me once again....

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Nasty. I was attacked by the little blighters last year, when travelling in the Bolivian jungle. Despite having taken a clean sleeping sheet with me, they managed to bite me from my ankles to my neck, and the bites took ages to disappear. My wife contracted dengue fever at the same time - all in all, not the most successful of trips...

Apparently you can get the same experience from a cheap flophouse in Skeg-Vegas and for a lot less money.

 

[Archie_tect]

Anyone else started scratching while reading this?

 

[coffeejo]

Anyone else started scratching while reading this?

Yes. Lots.

 

[Night Train]

It's the same effect you get when head lice or nits are mentioned.

 

[coffeejo]

Not helping, NT

 

[funnymummy]

My parents in law went a cruise on the QEII, my MIL caught what the ships Dr told her was chicken pox, she was covered in big red itchy lumps.
Turns out it was bed bug bites! She only found out on her return as when she opened her case they all came out!

 

[slowmotion]

Those of a robust nature might find the wiki entry for bed bugs an interesting read. If you could heat your house up to 46 degrees C, they will all die within a few minutes.

 

[Cubist]

Don't they lodge in the groin?

You're thinking of scabies. They really do take the prize for most attractive life-cycle.... the adult female burrows into the moist folds of skin in your armpit, groin and between fingers and toes. She lays her eggs at the bottom of a pore or hair follicle, then crawls up to the entrance of the pore and dies, blocking the pore and stopping the babies coming to harm. They then thrive in probably infected tunnel until it's time for them to emerge and do their bit for the future of the species. Nice.
http://www.healthy-skin-guide.com/pictures-of-scabies.html

 

[Telemark]

Harvest mites are lovely, too
Google has some lovely pictures and descriptions

T

 

[Fnaar]

You wonder what evolutionary purpose species like scabies serve... only infect humans, die 3 days away from a body, die after laying their eggs, which in turn will die after laying their own eggs and so on. If I was a scaby, I'd want to break the mould a bit, and perhaps invent insect beer, or insect cycling.

 

[Globalti]

Nobody has mentioned fleas - I once owned a house, which I rented out while I lived in France. The family had a cat, which slept in the sun in the back bedroom. After they had left my agent was showing a new prospective tenant around and she walked in to the bedroom. Se felt an odd sensation on her legs, looked down and her lower legs were black with fleas that were jumping out of the carpet. She screamed and ran outside absolutely freaking out. Her legs were bitten all over, she claimed she had had to cancel her holiday as a result and tried to sue me! I told her to get lost and offered to pay for the histamine cream.

More recently I found a bird's nest in the garden, which was hopping with fleas. Mrs Gti told me to burn it but I threw it on the compost. I was in the habit of going out and urinating on the compost (nitrates) and after a while started finding odd bites around my groin area. Then one day I glanced down and saw that my groin area was actually being mobbed by fleas jumping out of the compost. Mrs Gti went absolutely ballistic; we had to get the house sprayed and even now she never misses an opportunity to remind me about it.

 

[dellzeqq]

Don't they lodge in the groin?

aaaaaaaaaghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[dellzeqq]

You're thinking of dust mites, which are microscopic and in everyone's houses. Bed-bugs grow to about 5mm long and are voracious vampires.

This should give you an idea: http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

and this: http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

or this: http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

aaaaaaaaaaggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!