It was enough to make Lindsey Kimmons' skin crawl when bed bugs moved in to her Northwest Austin apartment complex a couple of months ago.
"There were little bugs crawling all over me," Kimmons says. "I had over fifty bites at one point just from one night alone. When I was waking up at 3 o'clock in the morning, dying and it got to the point that I would touch my neck and pull a red bug off me and that's when I said, 'They have to be in my bed.'"
Kimmons' case is not unusual, according to Janis Reed, a board-certified entomologist with ABC Home and Commercial Services. She says the number of bed bug calls has risen sharply, from her first call four years ago to one or two calls every couple of days. Reed says people are to blame for transporting the notorious insect hitchhiker.
"All of the theories boil down to one thing," Reed says, "and that is, we're moving them around. We move them around when we travel, we move them around when we visit other people, we move them around when we store all of our things in one place and then separate them out."
Reed says bed bugs tend to like to stay within five feet of a bed or any place where people sleep. They can move room to room through walls, and even hide underneath pictures or posters on walls, and even under wallpaper.
"They are so flat," Reed says. "I mean, they are flatter than a credit card so they can get in a number of places."
Reed adds that bed bugs know no socioeconomic conditions and have nothing to do with tidiness. She says she sees them in places ranging from one-bedroom apartments to multi-million dollar homes.
To avoid them Reed suggests being very careful when you travel, always inspecting checked luggage after you've retrieved it and never placing luggage on or near a hotel bed, as bed bugs like to stay within five feet of a sleeping area. She says to also thoroughly inspect second-hand clothing and furniture.
Meanwhile, exterminators and apartment maintenance personnel turned Kimmons' apartment upside-down to rid her place of the biting bugs. She is staying at hotels or with friends for the next couple of weeks, when treatment should be complete. The experience is still with her.
"I feel that they're still crawling on me. I still haven't gotten a good night's sleep. It's been just the worst experience i've ever had," Kimmons said.
Unfortunately, Reed believes bed bugs are a new fact of life in Austin. She says it is important to know what a bed bug looks like, because about half of the population does not react to their bites and would therefore never know if they were bitten. She says the bugs are about the size of an apple seed, and are a reddish-brown color. Reed says bed bugs are translucent when they are very young, but turn dark red after a blood meal.
If you believe that you have bed bugs, Reed advises to de-clutter your home and wash all of your towels, clothing and bedding. She says to move your furniture and belongings into a hot place, such as outdoors or an attic. Then, call a professional.
"There are only two types of insects I would strongly advise turning over to a professional," Reed says. "One is termites. The other is bed bugs."
