Nashville and Murfreesboro TN
Just because summer is over, that doesn’t mean you’re putting away the suitcases for the rest of the year. Many people plan trips during the fall or winter, whether it’s a vacation or visiting family for the holidays. Whatever time of year you travel, you run the risk of bringing home something besides pictures and souvenirs: bedbugs, cockroaches, spiders, and more. Ameri Care Services has compiled this list of tips to keep you from bringing home one of these common household pests from your next trip.
Hotels
Bags and belongings should never be stored on or in most hotel furniture. Sit them on a table or bench instead. Dressers, beds, nightstands, and even some chairs are complicated structures with lots of cracks and crevices—any of which could be a hiding place for insects. Bedbugs and roaches all love dark crevices on furniture where they won’t be disturbed while doing their business. Tables and benches, however, are flat surfaces where most bugs would be noticeable if they tried to creep up and around onto your possessions.
If you’re dead set on using the furniture in your hotel, you need to be prepared. Our licensed Nashville pest inspectors at Ameri Care Services recommend you travel with one of their favorite tools: a flashlight. Use it to all the drawers and furniture with your flashlight. Be sure to also check under overhangs, in cubbies, under the mattress and where the headboard meets the bed. Common signs of pest infestation include tiny dots, shells or even blood spots, which are often referred to as deal dirt or bedbug spotting. These can be located under mattresses or where beds meet the mattress. Cockroaches leave behind droppings and shells as well, especially in dark corners of drawers and furniture.
Did you find any of these signs? If you’re truly prepared and determined to stay in this hotel, report it to the front desk. Ask for a non-adjacent room, and bring a travel mattress cover with you. None of these methods is 100 percent foolproof to prevent pests, but your chances lower significantly by doing this. However, it is also wise to report any bug-related issue to the front desk and find a different hotel.
Returning home
If you believe the hotel you stayed at may have had a pest infestation, Ameri Care Services strongly advises that you refrain from bringing your luggage into your home. As soon as possible, take your luggage to a laundromat or a commercial dry cleaner. Have your clothes washed and dried on the highest heat levels possible. If you can dry clean your suitcases, that’s excellent. If not, store them away from your home until you can have them treated. Ameri Care Services can offer treatment options for your luggage or other personal belongings that can’t be placed in a dryer.
You should consider that souvenirs may be harboring bugs—especially wooden ones, which can become infested with cockroaches, termites, and bedbugs. In fact, if you bring home a chair or large piece of furniture, you should inspect it before you buy because it may be the culprit that brings bugs into your home. Any electronics purchased or used can be a sanctuary for roaches, and it only takes a few roaches to cause a full-blown infestation of your home or apartment.
This same rule of thumb can be followed for plants bought on vacation. Spanish moss and various types of trees can provide a safe haven for ticks and fleas. Poinsettias are notorious for being cargo ships for Asian cockroaches. Spanish moss also is a favorite of deer ticks, which spread Lyme disease. Ameri Care Services suggest anything you purchase on vacation should be treated with caution. You also should use this rule when buying things at yard sales and flea markets to protect yourself.
Pest control in Murfreesboro
Vacations are a time of joy. We don’t want you to think about potentially dangerous insects on your vacation. The professionally trained staff at Ameri Care Services can provide you with a pest inspection today. We can check for pests, make sure they haven’t infested your home, and create a treatment plan if it’s already too late. Ameri Care Services remains committed to bringing quality service and great prices to our residential and commercial customers in Nashville, Murfreesboro, Mt. Juliet, and Franklin, TN. Our long-term pest control solutions are of the best benefit to you the sooner you contact us. Contact Ameri Care Services today by calling (615) 893-7111 to schedule a consultation with one of our pest control technicians.