WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: How Do Bed Bugs Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vog Obam here with a classic episode from erstwhile

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<v Speaker 1>host Christian Sager. Today's is pretty gross, but if you're

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<v Speaker 1>like me and find insects and vampires fascinating, it's pretty interesting.

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<v Speaker 1>Good morning, brain Stuff, I'm Christian Sager. You've just woken up.

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<v Speaker 1>Something smells musty and sweet. When you open your eyes,

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<v Speaker 1>your bed has a trail of molted insects, shells, rust

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<v Speaker 1>colored stains, and tiny smears of excrement. Just saying this

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<v Speaker 1>makes me feel itchy, So imagine actually finding these traces

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<v Speaker 1>of bed bugs in your home. We thought these little

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<v Speaker 1>vampires were taken care of after we bombed them to

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<v Speaker 1>hell with d d T in the nineteen eighties, but

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<v Speaker 1>they are back, and d d T was outlawed in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventy two, so we can't nooke them from orbit.

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<v Speaker 1>Just to be sure anymore. So arm yourself with knowledge,

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<v Speaker 1>because here's what bed bugs are, where they live, and

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<v Speaker 1>how to get rid of them. The official name for

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<v Speaker 1>bed bugs is cimex lectilarious, and they are parasites that

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<v Speaker 1>feed off of their sleeping hosts blood. The largest they

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<v Speaker 1>get is only a quarter of an inch and they're flat,

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<v Speaker 1>so they're easy to miss. Their brownish wingless with six

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<v Speaker 1>shiny legs, and their syringe like mouthbeak is what they

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<v Speaker 1>use to pierce your skin and suck your blood. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>unlike nos ferratu, these guys rarely wake their victims while feeding,

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<v Speaker 1>and they can even take three to ten minutes to

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<v Speaker 1>gorge on your blood. Now, while drinking, they actually release

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<v Speaker 1>their own saliva into your broken skin, which can eventually

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<v Speaker 1>cause an allergic reaction. Luckily, they don't spread disease, but

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<v Speaker 1>the bites can swell and itch, except for thirty percent

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<v Speaker 1>of people who have no reaction to these bugs at all.

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<v Speaker 1>Even still, they probably won't drain you dry. It actually

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<v Speaker 1>would take one hundred thousand bedbugs feeding on you for

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<v Speaker 1>at least a week to make you anemic. Now, let's

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<v Speaker 1>put one misconception to rest. Though bedbugs aren't a sign

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<v Speaker 1>of poor hygiene, even immaculate mansions can get them. It

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<v Speaker 1>only takes one to ride on in and infect your

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<v Speaker 1>whole home. But the messier the domicile, the more places

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<v Speaker 1>they have to hide. Here is a short list of

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<v Speaker 1>spots that they can conceal themselves, sofa seems, bed frame cracks,

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<v Speaker 1>torn wall paper, backpacks, light switches, televisions, clocks, phones, rugs, baseboards, curtains, clothing, towels,

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<v Speaker 1>or even pillows. Basically, anywhere that's dark and protected is

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<v Speaker 1>up for grabs. One way to tell you've got them

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<v Speaker 1>is from the coriander like odor that they release when

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<v Speaker 1>they are alarmed. The worst part is they can live

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<v Speaker 1>up to a year without eating, so even if you

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<v Speaker 1>move into a totally vacant residence, they could still be

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<v Speaker 1>there waiting. So then how do we kill them? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>like with any vampire, you should hire a professional. They

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<v Speaker 1>must be exterminated their incredibly tenacious critters, and to successfully

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<v Speaker 1>eradicate them sometimes takes up to four different treatments. There's

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<v Speaker 1>dry ice sprays, steam, vacuuming, fumigation, and insecticides. Sustained exposure

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<v Speaker 1>to temperatures over a hundred and twenty degrees fahrenheit will

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<v Speaker 1>also kill them, which is why you'll need to wash

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<v Speaker 1>all of your linen's and blast them in a hot dryer.

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<v Speaker 1>And remember what I said about messy clutter, Yeah, you've

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<v Speaker 1>got to clean all that up so they won't have

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<v Speaker 1>any place to hide again. Some people also use plastic

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<v Speaker 1>encasings around their mattress, box spring, and pillows to keep

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<v Speaker 1>them from ever returning again. Today's episode was written by

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<v Speaker 1>Christian and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this

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<v Speaker 1>lots of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is production of I heart Radio. For more

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