Bed bugs are pesky little pests who love to feed on human blood and make your life miserable. If you are dealing or have dealt with a bed bug infestation in your house, you probably already know that bed bugs are super resilient and hard to kill. Plus, since they are such good hiders, it can be quite difficult to drive them out of the house.
However, suffering at the hands of these annoying and pesky insects is never an option. Therefore, it is essential to take steps to put an end to the infestation as soon as you detect the first signs of bed bugs in your house. Keep in mind that while it is hard to miss an infestation problem, it not always easy to identify what insects you are dealing with. In fact, a lot of people confuse a bed bug infestation with a flea infestation. It is also easy to mistake bed bug bites for mosquito bites.
Naturally, it is next to impossible to get rid of the insects responsible for creating havoc in your house without identifying them correctly. This means to effectively bring an infestation to an end, it is essential to know what insects you are dealing with. Therefore, it is important to know the signs of a bed bug infestation.
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Bed Bug Smell – Sign of a Bed Bug Infestation
From finding blood stains on your sheets and pillowcases to experiencing itchy, irritated skin due to bed bug bites, there are multiple telltale signs of a bed bug infestation. However, one thing that gives bed bugs away for sure is their smell!
Do Bed Bugs Smell?
Yes! Bed bugs give off a distinctive, unpleasant odor that is indicative of their presence in your house. In fact, it is an important sign of a bed bug infestation. However, keep in mind that it takes a large infestation to detect bed bug smell. This is because a few bed bugs are unable to produce enough smell that it becomes detectable. Therefore, if you have started to smell these pesky insects inside your house, know that it’s time to call in the bed bug exterminators to get rid of them once and for all.
What Do Bed Bugs Smell Like?
Different people relate bed bug infestation smell with different things. Here’s a list explaining how different people describe the smell associated with a bed bug infestation.
- Bed bugs produce a foul odor that resembles the smell of coriander. The smell is not pleasant and is usually detected only after the infestation has gone on for a few months. In fact, it is interesting to note that the word “coriander” is derived from the Greek work for bugs! No wonder – people relate the smell of bed bug infestation to coriander.
- Some people may detect a shoe-like smell in their house. If there are no dirty, smelly shoes lying around in the house, the culprits behind the stinky odor are probably the bed bugs.
- The smell of a bed bug infestation is also described as the smell associated with dirty laundry or wet, moldy clothes. Just like for shoes, if you didn’t have smelling piles of dirty clothes in your house, the smell is probably produced by the bed bugs hiding inside your house.
- Other people may describe the smell of a bed bug infestation as smelling like spoiled or rotting raspberries. While we love raspberries, there’s nothing pleasant about the stinking odor emitted from bed bugs.
- Sometimes, the smell resembles acidic marzipan. In other words, it can be described as smelling like almonds.
If you detect any of these smells inside your house without any cause, know that you have a bed bug infestation. Keep in mind that not everyone experiences a smell when dealing with bed bugs. Different people describe the smell of bed bug infestation in different ways and the experience is not the same for everyone!
Why Do Bed Bugs Smell?
Bed bugs can produce smell in a number of ways. For example, it is believed that the scent originates from bed bugs’ excrements. Dead bed bugs, especially the ones that are crushed due to impact, also give off a strong smell.
Another reason why bed bug infestation smells can be linked to the pheromones produced by these bugs. They have scent glands that produce a musky smell. While this smell is not evident in individual bugs, when the infestation is fairly large, it is easy to detect their musky odor.
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs Smell
The easiest way to get rid of bed bug smell is to get rid of the bed bugs! There are multiple ways to deal with a bed bug infestation. You can try home remedies and use strong substances like bleach and alcohol, buy bed bug killers, and even call in professional bed bug exterminators to get rid of bed bugs for good!
Keep in mind that the smell of a bed bug infestation will go away on its own once the area is cleared off bed bugs. However, if the infestation has gone on for a long time, it is common to notice a minty smell in the air for some time, even after all the bed bugs are dead.
Did you know that you can use the smell of bed bug to exterminate them? Sometimes, dogs are trained to detect bed bugs smell. This helps in identifying the infected areas and makes it easy to exterminate the unwanted bugs! It’s time you get rid of these pesky insects once and for all and turn your home into a pest-free zone!