AsktheBuilder Emergency Issue Newsletter

A Friend in Need

I need your help, well actually a friend of mine needs your help.

If you're an entomologist or a true pest-control expert, please keep reading.

A friend of mine started getting bug bites while sleeping at night. I know, your first reaction is bed bugs. The house was checked by one of the top and best bed-bug specialists and they came up with NO bed bugs.

This is not a detergent rash. They are BUG bites.

My friend has been quarantined in the house since the pandemic was announced and there have been no visitors. No family or friends have stayed the night to introduce a pest.

No one has come into the house since March - except for two inspectors last week AFTER the bug invasion started.

The bites look identical to bed-bug bites when compared to online photos.

Just prior to my friend getting bitten at night, there was a bat in the house. The bat was captured and removed, but it was determined that it, and some friends, were roosting in the attic.

A top bat-removal company was called in a week ago, and verified the presence and is in the process of dealing with the bats. The issue is this is going to take a month because the state where my friend lives protects the bats.

Research shows that bats can have mites that are closely related to bed bugs and these BAT BUGS can bite humans. They have many of the same characteristics of bed bugs.

A top pest control company in town where my friend lives has been helping with the situation and his primary goal is to try to capture the invisible menace.

At this point, it's all speculation WHAT is causing the bites because in the morning the pest has long gone.

After a week of trying many things, sticky tape traps, looking into electrical outlets, switches, etc. NO PESTS have been located.

Here's where I can use your help if you have solid information with respect to situations like this or experienced a SIMILAR infestation and how it was resolved.

Remember, the top BED BUG company said it's NOT bed bugs.

Questions:

Do you know the absolute foolproof way to capture the pests that somehow have found the bedroom? The pest control expert has recommended carpet tape on the mattress to create a sticky *fence* the bugs have to crawl across to get to my friend.

What are the bugs you know of that can cause bites under clothing while sleeping that look just like bed bug bites? I'm trying to create a list of possible suspects.

All the advice online and from the experts notes that once the bats are given the bum's rush and not allowed back into the attic, the bat bugs (assuming that's the issue) will die off - even though they will substitute human blood instead of tasty BAT blood. Is this true if you're a BAT BUG expert?

Finally, if you were my friend, what would you do as fast as possible to identify the pest and then eradicate it?

Late last week, I reached out to two top bug associations trying to locate the TOP BAT BUG expert/researcher in the USA. I haven't heard back yet, but I blame the holiday weekend with people taking off Thursday and Friday for a long weekend.

I'm looking for REAL HELP here and I know you might have some ideas that my friend has missed and that I've not thought of.

Here's the LAST piece of data: There have been NO BITES the past four nights, but over the past week my friend has exhaustively WASHED all bedding and deep-cleaned the room each day.

She also started applying a mite spray to the bedding.

The anxiety level is extreme and my friend is losing sleep and it's a very serious situation.

I feel we need to CAPTURE and IDENTIFY the pest so a plan of attack can be initiated.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com