K9 inspection for bed bugs of an elderly care facility in Manchester, NH yesterday. Malamar, our bed bug dog inspector, inspected 16 units for bed bugs. The property manager discovered about 2 months ago that one of the units on the first floor had a mid-sized infestation in progress.
A visiting nurse had discovered a bug crawling on this elderly person while caring for him. Upon identification by a professional pest control technician, the culprit was identified as a bed bug.
The pest control company treated the unit accordingly. A few days later, a person in a neighboring unit found a bed bug too. That room was then treated as well. The pest control company then proceeded to inspect for bed bugs all other units too, several times over the next weeks. And they hadn’t found any bed bug activity during their visual inspection.
The property manager however, wanted peace of mind that these creepy and cryptic critters weren’t hiding out of sight somewhere in the building and thus opted for a K9 inspection as well.
Enters Malamar, our bed bug dog inspector. She managed to sweep these rooms in record time and alerted in 2 units: one of the unit was the new unit where the resident of the infested unit recently moved to. The PCO did a visual on the bed and could not find evidence, however Malamar kept alerting during 3 different inspections at the same area of the bed: at the foot and near a hollow pipe that curved up the length of the bed frame. The PCO deducted that the bed bug must be hiding in that hollow pipe – he couldn’t verify with a flashlight as it curved – and decided to have that pipe treated.
The other unit where Malamar alerted to, was a couch in the TV room situated right above the infested room. The PCO confirmed with bed bug activity in that area.
I really enjoy these kinds of collaborative inspections with a reputable Pest Control company because we can combine our efforts to move furniture for access by our dogs; also, I believe that in a situation like this, where an infestation has been introduced for the first time and has progressed to a more advanced stage of infestation, a K9 inspection combined with a visual inspection is the best solution to a most successful bed bug detection.
A visiting nurse had discovered a bug crawling on this elderly person while caring for him. Upon identification by a professional pest control technician, the culprit was identified as a bed bug.
The pest control company treated the unit accordingly. A few days later, a person in a neighboring unit found a bed bug too. That room was then treated as well. The pest control company then proceeded to inspect for bed bugs all other units too, several times over the next weeks. And they hadn’t found any bed bug activity during their visual inspection.
The property manager however, wanted peace of mind that these creepy and cryptic critters weren’t hiding out of sight somewhere in the building and thus opted for a K9 inspection as well.
Enters Malamar, our bed bug dog inspector. She managed to sweep these rooms in record time and alerted in 2 units: one of the unit was the new unit where the resident of the infested unit recently moved to. The PCO did a visual on the bed and could not find evidence, however Malamar kept alerting during 3 different inspections at the same area of the bed: at the foot and near a hollow pipe that curved up the length of the bed frame. The PCO deducted that the bed bug must be hiding in that hollow pipe – he couldn’t verify with a flashlight as it curved – and decided to have that pipe treated.
The other unit where Malamar alerted to, was a couch in the TV room situated right above the infested room. The PCO confirmed with bed bug activity in that area.
I really enjoy these kinds of collaborative inspections with a reputable Pest Control company because we can combine our efforts to move furniture for access by our dogs; also, I believe that in a situation like this, where an infestation has been introduced for the first time and has progressed to a more advanced stage of infestation, a K9 inspection combined with a visual inspection is the best solution to a most successful bed bug detection.
