If you’re in charge of a summer camp or other communal living situation, it’s certain that one of your worst nightmares is a bedbug infestation in your camp’s sleeping quarters. Not only are bed bugs a huge inconvenience to fight, they’re also very difficult to fully eradicate. On top of that, they can be somewhat difficult to detect. However, there are a few key signs of bed bugs to watch out for which without a doubt signal their presence. Read on to find out what they are:
Rust-Colored Mattress Stains
Between bedding changes of your camp mattresses, check carefully for small, rust-colored stains. These stains result from crushed bed bugs where campers have slept. If you see a few of these on even one mattress, it’s time to start treating your camp area for bed bugs — catch it before it gets out of control!
Dark Spots
Check used sheets for tiny, dark-colored spots the size of a period or pinprick. These little spots are actually the result of the excrement bed bugs leave behind. One tip to help with this is to make sure your camp uses light-colored sheets instead of dark, so that these spots are more easily visible.
Eggs and Eggshells
Female bed bugs can lay up to three eggs per day, so if there are living bed bugs in your sleeping quarters, there are sure to be trails of eggshells and eggs. Bed bug eggs are about one millimeter wide and have a pale yellow color.
Now that you know the primary signs of bed bugs, be sure to check for them in the following places:
Mattress Seams
If your camp mattresses have seams (it’s better if they don’t), be sure to look carefully around them for bedbugs, as this is an area where they can easily shelter and hide.
Electrical Outlets
Bed bugs will lurk in any crevice they can find, but they’ve been especially known to hide behind outlet covers, so if you suspect an infestation, be sure to check there. They can even hide in outlet cover screws!
Posters and Wall Decorations
Bed bugs crawling up walls will often hide behind decorations such as posters, so be sure to do a sweep behind wall decorations regularly, as well.
Ceiling Corners
Ceiling corners are well-known for harboring spiders and other insects, and perhaps unsurprisingly, they make a frequent home for bed bugs in the case of an infestation. Be sure to check thoroughly when doing dusting and cleaning in your sleeping quarters.
Afraid You’ll Miss Signs of Bed Bugs?
Of course, the best way to rest easy as a camp counselor or supervisor, when it comes to keeping bed bugs at bay, is to make sure your sleeping areas are outfitted with bunk beds that are resistant to bed bugs in the first place. ESS Universal manufactures specially-designed bunk beds that do not allow bed bugs to get within bed frames, and offers waterproof foam mattresses that are bed bug-resistant, too.
