Cockroaches, I can deal with. I even have moral dilemmas when I try to kill them. But fleas and bed bugs? It's a whole different kettle of Baygon.
You know, I’ve only just been made aware of the fact that bed bugs actually exist. Mum and Dad used to say the old “Good night, don’t let the bed bugs bite” when tucking me in as a child, leaving me to spend my formative years pondering the fact that my parents were trying to scare the bejesus out of me with fake-yet-alarming monster stories. I think in the end they just produced a neurotic six year old hypochondriac.
But back to the bugs! I first came across them while travelling in China, where youth hostels would advertise “No bed bugs or your accommodation is free” type stuff. I figured then — and this was reinforced when I Google image searched “bed bugs” (yuck) — that the little blighters do actually exist.
Oh man, do they exist. Leeching blood from your limbs while you slumber on like an Iraqi oil field. Some friends have just moved into a lovely terrace in Newtown (yes, they are paying through the nose for it), and have just discovered a bed bug infestation as the source of their mysterious red-dotted skin and extreme itchiness. This was just weeks after discovering that the house I’ve recently rented is a veritable flea circus of, well, fleas.
It’s amazing how quickly you can go from appearing like a relatively normal and together human being when you throw a bug infestation into the equation. You’ve got to vacate the place so you can flea bomb it (do vacate, because anything that kills a cockroach or flea must be some serious chemical shit). In the case of my housemate, who had an allergic reaction to flea bites, you have to deal with red swollen welts and the distinct feeling of social leprosy (people will try to avoid touching you. Do your best to rub up against them on buses and trains, while murmuring “Help me stop the itching...” for hours of entertainment. It might actually help stop the itching, too). Friends and workmates will offer helpful advice, such as “Lock a few dogs inside for the day, and the fleas will gravitate towards them,” or “Have a party — maybe all the guests will take the fleas home with them,” (Hey, why not just give them a party bag full of Rubella?)
The War On Fleas starts to take over other areas of your life. You turn up at a party full of people you hardly know, and when someone asks how you are you reply with something like “My arm is itchy. You know they defecate blood, right?” and then wander off to the Esky to ice your wounds. Not cool.
After the complete life disruption that can be suffered as a result of a flea or bed bug experience, you might think that real estate agents might cut you some slack, perhaps in the form of a rent-free week? Don't make me laugh... bitterly...
Mind you, the house, post-fleas, is awesome, and though I may complain about the vagaries of share housing, the fun and independence it affords is more than worth the pain. Honest :)
Comments
Apparently vaccuming your mattress is good for getting rid of bed bugs, but its not so good for fleas since the vibrations caused by the vaccuum cause the eggs to hatch and hence baby fleas everywhere!
Isn't that clever though? the flea eggs lie dormant in your couch / carpet / bed, and when they feel vibrations from sitting on couch / lying on bed / walking on carpet, thats how they know to hatch, because a food source is nearby. Thats why when you go away for a week or so and come back home again, there'll be a big infestation all at once as all the flea's say "hurrah! food!" and make haste to attach to your legs.
ok so I like parasitology... is that really such a bad thing?
Posted by: Megan | March 19, 2007 06:27 PM
I realised my two cats had fleas 8 days ago. In a panic, I bought pyrethrin shampoo and a flea comb from Pet Barn.
I bathed both cats, which they were very displeased about. The were lots of fleas in the bathwater, but when I combed them afterwards I kept finding more fleas. I read on the internet that detergent kills fleas, so I combed them out and mixed them into a class of detergent water. Then I swished the comb in a glass of clean water, cracking the fleas that made it out with a pair of tweezers. I did this morning and night for a few days, always finding 20-50 fleas across both cats.
I eventually worked out this wasn't working so I evacuated the cats to my parents shed, and flea bombed the house. I used Mortein, since these are the only flea bombs stocked by Coles and BiLo (the internet says Raid is best). Bombing the house seemed to work at first, but eggs started hatching noticably 2 days after the bombing. They were jumping out of the carpet and latching onto my legs as I walked. LOTS of them. As I walked. These things are seriously scary.
I vaccuumed twice thoroughly and that seemed to work for a while. I put a desk lamp over a plate of soapy water and about 4 fleas hopped into it, so vacuuming wasn't helping as much as I'd been led to believe.
Borax is well recommended by many for sorting this out. You can buy it at Bunnings, which is open late most nights. I worked that out too late though and treated the floor temporarily with Baygon Fast Kill insect spray. I do not recommend doing this, Borax is much less dangerous and is well recommended by many.
I put Advantage (Imidacloprid) on the cats while in quarrantine, and a day later they were pretty much flea free. That stuff is magic. You put it on the back of their neck, then it travels around with their natural oils delivering the poison to the parasites. The fleas I do find are usually dead or very sick. I can even squeeze them with my bare fingers and they squish rather than crack. My parents swear by Revolution (Selamectin) which covers a wider variety of parasites. It's a different poison, so I'll use that next time.
Posted by: Chris | April 4, 2007 11:47 PM
Cath!! i can't find your e-mail anywhere... I was wanting permission to use one of your BBgrog Photos for an article in the Aus Vet journal advertising BBgrog '07. Can you e-mail me back so then i can e-mail you? Thanks! ( i know... why do none of the vet students have photos? cameras must still be in the dam...)
Posted by: Megan Rees | May 29, 2007 08:51 PM
I think my mattress has bed bugs. I'm getting strange itches on my hand and fore arm. Yuck Yuck Yuck Yuck. I need to nuke my flat with a flea bomb!
Posted by: Peter | August 7, 2008 08:42 PM