Bedbugs only happen to someone else, until they happen to you.
Or almost you. My friends and their dog came to visit, and stayed with my sis because of her big back yard. Day one, they went out for a walk and came back with the most beautifully upholstered dining room chairs, circa 1970 or something, with silver lame and thick wooden legs.
They were perfect.
Then the dog started itching fleas, or so we thought. My friends blamed the apartment, my sis blamed the dog. Friends left and Katie read about bedbugs in the Montreal Mirror. For instance, bedbugs bite in threes. Bedbugs travel. They come in on shoelaces, in suitcases, on furniture left at the curb.
Bedbugs are rampant. According to the National Pest Management Association, there was a 71 per cent increase in bed bug related calls in the United States from 2000 to 2005. There are even lawyers who specialize in bed bug litigation. The resurgence is blamed on the increase of human travel and the resistance of this new breed of bugs to traditional eradication techniques. Plus, DDT, a chemical they used to spray in homes, is now illegal.
Katie hired the exterminator from the Montreal Mirror. She turned out to be a real bitch. "She was just like the vermin that she killed," my sister said. "She acted like our apartment was disgusting. The whole experience was really unpleasant."
I don't know how anything about bedbugs could be pleasant. First you get bitten, and then you get fumigated. Eggs can be anywhere, so you must freeze anything you sweep off the floor until the minute you can get it out to the garbage truck. Bedbugs can live up to a year without feeding, so follow up applications are crucial. Plus the whole extermination comes at a price: $275 for a two bedroom apartment.
The pretty dining room chairs got put out on the curb with a warning sign.
"Bed Bugs. Do not take."
"Those chairs were gone in a minute," Katie said. And so the cycle continues.
The unpleasant woman herself
CTV: Canada has 'em too
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