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Dorothy Copus Brush Don't let the bedbugs bite Stop fussing about the ladybugs invading your
home. Startling as it seems, bedbug infestations have been on
the upswing in the past couple of years. As children we often heard our elders tell
us in jest, "Don't let the bedbugs bite," as we headed
off to bed. But we also heard from the women in our families
that bedbugs were related to filthy conditions. He was sent to Yale for training in radar,
and when I arrived in New Haven, I ran into two other wives in
search of a rental. We joined forces and soon found a summer
cottage on the Long Island Sound, just a short trolley ride from
New Haven. We saw our husbands only on weekends, and the place
was large enough to accommodate three couples. It was early spring, and all the locals told
us it was the coldest spring in years. The cottage did have a
fireplace but no other way to heat. We decided the only way to
keep warm at night was to share one bed. One woman was in her
final month of pregnancy, and the other was in the first months
and suffered morning sickness all 24 hours. Because of these
two special conditions, I was assigned the middle position in
the bed. Every morning I found large bumps on my body
which kept me scratching. No one else was afflicted. Finally
we had a council of war to discuss my bites and, after considering
several things, the unspeakable was uttered. Could it be bedbugs?
We ascended the stairs and stripped the bed. Indeed, our inspection
found not only carcasses in the mattress but live creatures scattering
when the light was on. Another council of war, and we marched off
to the landlord. His response was that we had brought them. Our
irate response was that he should inspect the mattress to know
that was not true. Grudgingly, he agreed to call an exterminator,
and when they came they said they would do the job but the temperatures
had to stabilize before they could use their poison. We spent
uncomfortable nights on the floor in front of the fireplace during
the next several weeks. The exterminators did a fine job, and we sighed
with relief that our possessions were free of the dreaded bedbugs.
All went well until the summer heat arrived and then we noticed
a horrible odor. Not only bedbugs but all other creatures hiding
in the cottage had died. A good neighbor took pity on us and
removed the ceiling boards on our screened porch to take out
the dead bodies. The news that bedbugs are on the rise came
from UT entomologist Dr. Karen Vail. She says reports of infestations
have risen in the past several years in residences, apartment
complexes, motels and even the very best hotels. She believes there are two reasons. One is that exterminators no longer use very poisonous chemicals and second the increase in international tourism. That second reason concerns me, as I remember how we were wrongly accused of carrying bedbugs. |