With all of the bed bug infestations blanketing newspapers and the internet this past month, it’s a pretty hot topic among folks.  I was just having a conversation with my neighbor about bed bugs and I told her that bed bugs could wreak havoc if they landed in the wrong hands and were purposely set loose in a public establishment.  She thought I was a bit off my rocker.  It’s bad enough that we all need to look for them in hotels and motels, and wonder if they are in the airline seat, rental car, train, bus, taxi, or movie theaters that we are sitting in.  We are not even safe from these blood suckers if we become ill and require a trip to the hospital or are visiting someone there, because bed bugs can be ready to pounce.

Then I read an article last night about the plastic baggie of live bed bugs there were found a few weeks ago at a Des Moines city building. The open baggie was found by custodians but not before the prickly pests had time to escape and run for cover in the Des Moines Armory which houses many public offices.  It is only now that they are finding out how bad the infestation is.

Officials believe that the bed bugs were left by someone who was seeking revenge against the city for some unknown reason.  Really, why else would a bag filled with live bed bugs be left in a building?

Forget chemical warfare, this is bed bug warfare!  The building has undergone fumigation services three times, but according to the bed bug sniffing dog and the employees itchy bites, the bed bugs refuse to die.  So far, the City of Des Moines has forked out $1,200 for fumigation costs.  Heat treatment for the building will cost the city an additional $5,000.  Without a doubt, employees have taken the blood suckers home with them as well.  Who assumes the cost for those bed bug infestations?  What a nightmare!

For protection, maybe I will just train my own dog to be a bed bug sniffing dog!