I HAVE BED BUGS IN TUCSON!!! What do I do now!?

Don’t hesitate! Call us today for a FREE consultation at (520) 579-1701! We will come to your residence or commercial property and confirm the presence of Bed Bugs. Afterwards, your Gecko Pest Management Pro can present some treatment options and estimate at your request. Our Tucson bed bug control experts can help keep this nuisance from becoming a nightmare!

Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite…

What was once just an innocent children’s rhyme but a couple years ago is beginning to ring true for households all over the United States… again.

Bed Bugs have been dated as far back as cavemen, first feeding on humans in caves that we shared with bats. As time went on, we just lived with them, killed them here and there, but never got rid of them, much like the nuisance of mosquitoes. This continued all the way up until the end of World War II, at which time DDT (short for dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) was invented. Chlordane was invented shortly after that.

The effectiveness and long-lasting residuals of these chemical solutions made them household items: one customer (in the prevention mindset) still had a jar of chlordane stored under her kitchen sink to this day! There are even many first-hand stories of people growing up and watching their mother run around the house spraying anything that moved with a metal canister filled with DDT. Both of these materials were used at a wide-spread level for residential, commercial, and agricultural properties across the U.S. Several years later, Bed Bugs were but a memory, as they had pretty much disappeared from America.

Decades later, the effects of DDT on the environment was becoming apparent and in 1972 the use of DDT was banned from the United States. In 1983, Chlordane for pest control use also saw its final days. At this point, the sentiment that the broad, general use of pesticides was in no way good started to spread. In the pest management industry, we use the term “action threshold”: this is the point at which a pest can’t be tolerated any longer and, for whatever reason, some action must be taken against them. We saw people’s “action threshold” become higher as they would wait until absolutely necessary before introducing chemicals to control their pest infestations. This is a dangerous came, as a small infestation can quickly become a full-scale attack without proper treatment.

In the structural pest control industry, we started to sense this early on as the manufacturing side began creating a whole new class of chemicals derived from Pyrethrum plants. These chemicals (known as Pyrethrins or Pyrethroids, depending on how they’re made) make up most of the pesticides used today, including the ones provided at your local hardware stores. These chemicals have very low toxicity to mammals and dissipate quickly if introduced into the environment.

Also, as part of the problem was irresponsible use, our industry also started using different treatment techniques. The most popular of the techniques being the change to “exterior only” pest control, spraying the interior only when a problem has clearly presented itself. These new materials as well as new techniques have helped us make great strides in controlling the pest populations around homes and commercial properties, while also protecting the environment.

With the rise of technology in the 21st century, international travel started increasing, and triggered a massively changing global economy. The United States saw far more goods and products being imported than ever before, and even our own products were assembled overseas, then shipped back to us. Soon, the Bed Bugs started crawling their way back into our lives. Unfortunately, the chemicals and techniques that once fought off these blood suckers were gone. Any chemical that once was applied to the inside of houses was gone. Bed bug populations were at the highest level they had ever been, especially in our urban areas. People had no choice but to share space with these blood-thirsty hitchhikers – and so bed bugs flourished once again.

For several years, we as an industry were losing the battle against a nationwide bed bug infestation. New generations of Pest Control Operators whom received zero training regarding bed bugs, as well as current treatment techniques that worked for other pests, didn’t stand a chance. Most of the chemicals were so low in toxicity that the Bed Bugs were breeding quicker than they could be killed. We were in a panic, but with new chemicals, new training, new techniques and a lot of trial and error, we have managed to stop the spread.

We will always have to deal with these “new” insects – they are here to stay. As time goes on, education continues to be the key to Tucson bed bug management. Knowing what to look for will go a long way – preventing them from entering the home, or at least being able to quickly recognize if they are inside, will allow you to contact your local Tucson bed bug exterminator quickly, before a small nuisance becomes a large-scale infestation.

Gecko Pest Management’s Approach to Conquering Tucson Bed Bugs

At Gecko Pest Management, we have established two different methods to controlling bed bugs in Tucson. Your preferred method will depend on a number of different circumstances.

• The first option is a Liquid Residual Treatment. Bed Bugs will camp out anywhere between two to twenty feet from where they can access a “blood meal” (which is you or any other human in your household). The focus of this treatment is to treat all these indoor areas, as well as areas that we discovered them hiding in the past. We use materials that are labeled to be used on and best suited for living areas. A list of areas that are treated can be found below in the sample of our “Bed Bug Treatment Report.” These areas will have to be prepared for treatment using the “Bed Bug Preparation Sheet“. Also, a major part of this type of treatment is laundry, as we can not simply spray clothing. All clothing must be washed in the hottest water possible and dried in the dryer for at least two cycles. The heat will help eliminate any insects or eggs in the clothing. We understand that some articles of clothing are too delicate to endure this procedure, so we have a “Bed Bug Laundry Guidelines” sheet to offer some other options when it comes to eliminating bed bugs from your clothing.

• The second option is a Whole House Fumigation using Vikane gas. The first step is draping tarps from the roof down to the ground, then we roll and seal the edges of the tarp to encompass the house in a tent of sorts. Once this is complete we introduce Vikane gas in to the structure. This gas will equalize in the structure and sit overnight so we obtain the proper exposure time. The next morning we remove the tarps and the gas dissipates. As Vikane gas breaks down in the environment and is not a greenhouse gas, it causes no harm. As we finish putting all the tarps away, we rigorously inspect the house, ensuring that it is safe to re-enter the structure. The best part about this treatment is the minimal preparation involved with it, no laundry, no emptying drawers: you just need to vacate the house during the treatment (along with any pets you have), as well as double-bag food and some personal hygiene products (in special bags – or removed from the property altogether). You can find a sheet provided by Dow Agro Sciences regarding what needs to be bagged or removed in “To Bag or Not to Bag”. As these insects are natural hitchhikers and we want minimize the risk of re-infestation after the treatment, we require that you take only one change of clothes per person and leave all luggage in the house.

If the preparation involved with Option 1 sounds too daunting, too time consuming, or just plain too much of a hassle, then Option 2 might be a better option for your Tucson bed bug control. Keep in mind that both of these treatments will include weekly follow ups from a Gecko Pest Management Extermination Pro to make sure all activity has ceased and your property is not in danger of a re-infestation.

Once you, the homeowner, as well as the technician, are both confident that the treatment has been a success and no evidence remains, a 3 month corrective treatment guarantee will be placed on the house. This means that should the presence of any remaining Bed Bugs be detected, we will correct the issue at no extra charge to you. At this point, you will want to educate yourself about the beginning signs of a Tucson bed bug infestation, so you do not accidentally re-introduce them back into your house. It’s also very important to figure out how you got them in the first place, so you don’t let it happen again – whether it was a visitor, a trip out of town, or you frequented an area that you normally don’t, prevention is key. If re-introduction does occur after the 3 month guarantee, due to the nature of these insects, it will be deemed a new infestation and the whole program will have to be initiated all over again.

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