Keeping Bed Bugs off Your Boat during Winter

Don’t let bed bugs turn your dream of sailing off into the sunset into a nightmare. Bed bugs don’t just live in houses and apartments. Anywhere that people lay down for the night is a potential bed bug haven. Campers, cottages, tents, boats – where there’s a bed, there can be bed bugs.

Bed bugs will survive in just about any warm, dark place, and all they need to thrive is a warm body to feed off. When the lights go off, the bed bugs come out to feast. They inject an anticoagulant into the body to facilitate the flow of blood during feeding and this is what causes the red bumps that appear all over your body once you have been subjected to a bed bug attack. The only good thing about bed bugs, if you’re really looking for something positive to say about them, is that, unlike mosquitoes, they are not known to transmit diseases.

The bad news is that once bed bugs have moved into your bed, they multiply quickly and are extremely hard to get rid of. Unfortunately, they also don’t confine themselves to your bed – bed bugs can be found in furniture, carpets, cabinets, and even under wallpaper and floorboards. Once you have an infestation, the best thing you can do is call in a professional pest control service.

How do bed bugs get onto your boat?

Unfortunately boat owners in St. Catharines are not immune from bed bugs. Don’t think that being surrounded by water, and keeping your boat immaculately clean, is going to protect you from an attack by these pesky little bloodsuckers. Bed bugs are not necessarily a sign of bad housekeeping and have mastered the art of hitchhiking in luggage.

How to spot a bed bug infestation on your boat

The signs of a bed bug infestation are pretty obvious. The bugs resemble a brown tick that can grow up to a quarter of an inch, and even if you can’t find the bugs, you can look for signs of their excrement, resembling small rust stains or flecks of mildew on the bedding and mattress. Red bumps on your skin, after a night on your boat, are also a good indication that you have a bed bug problem.

How to prevent a bed bug infestation on your boat

The best way to prevent a bed bug infestation is to introduce a bug protocol for anyone coming aboard. Store empty luggage in sealed white garbage bags, this will contain the bed bugs and you will easily be able to see any bugs that fall off on the white background.

Bed bugs are killed by high heat (over 45 degrees Celsius) so before clothing is put away, run it through the dryer’s high heat cycle. Thoroughly inspect any second-hand furniture and soft furnishings before they are bought on board your boat. Make sure you take a close look at the seams, as this is a great place for hitchhiking bed bugs to conceal themselves.

What to do about a bed bug infestation on your boat

Bed bugs are notoriously hard to get rid of and, despite what many websites recommend, a regular household vacuum cleaner just isn’t going to get the job done. If you have bed bugs on your boat, your best bet is to get advice from a professional pest control company in St Catharines. Because boats are always on the move, the quickest and most effective way to get rid of bed bugs is fumigation by a pest control expert. Truly Nolen has all the right training and equipment to fumigate your boat properly and safely, leaving you to enjoy the rest of your travels bedbug-free.