Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite, Denver

Remember the old saying: “Good night. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite”?

Well, they’re biting in Denver.

Seriously.

Both Orkin and Terminix – the biggest bug busters in the nation – have rated Denver among the top U.S. cities for bed bug infestation.

Orkin put Denver at No. 4 on its Top 50 list, while Terminix was kinder and said it was all the way down to No. 6.

Either way, not the best news for the Denver Chamber of Commerce to trumpet to potential visitors.

Both lists were compiled based on the number of bed bug treatments each company performed within the city between January and April of this year.

(Just so you know: New York City was the No. 1 city on Orkin’s list, while Cincinnatti was No.1 with Terminix.)

And contrary to what pest companies might want you to believe, bed bugs are nowhere near as huge and monstrous as the accompanying photo might suggest. (They’re really very, very, very small.)

According to Wikipedia, bed bugs were largely eradicated in the U.S. and the rest of the developed world in the 1940s but have been making a comeback since the mid-1990s.

The exact reason for the bugs’ resurgence is not clear but has been blamed on greater travel to exotic lands where the bugs are still abundant, more frequent exchange of second-hand furnishings and an increasing resistance to pesticides.

The little buggers get their creepy name from the fact that they tend to prefer to inhabit beds and are mainly active at night, sucking the blood of their unsuspecting, sleeping host.

While the bugs aren’t deadly to humans, they can cause a number of minor health effects including skin rashes, blisters and allergic reactions.

Oh yes, and they cause people to loudly exclaim “Ewwwwwww!!!!!” and instantly run out of your house if they ever find out you’ve had a bed bug infestation.

There’s only one way to deal with them and that’s through a visit from the pest-control people. And here’s an interesting factoid: There are bed bug detection dogs that are trained to pinpoint infestations, with an accuracy rate exceeding 97 percent.

Disturbingly, bed bugs are apparently developing a resistance to the various pesticides that have been used to kill them. According to Wikipedia, bed bug populations in Arkansas have been found to be highly resistant to DDT – one of the strongest pesticides on the market – and DDT has actually been shown to stimulate the little pests in some African studies.

Just so Denverites don’t feel too badly about their apparent city-wide vermin infestation, bed bugs are found around the world and have been bugging people for thousands of years.

Bed bugs will likely be with us for the rest of time, but pity the poor family that has to call in the pest patrol to spray for them. “So what was the Orkin truck doing at your place, Madge?”

“Oh, we just had a few rats and cockroaches to get rid of, Ethel. Nothing serious. Certainly no bed bugs.”

“Ewwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!”

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