Bedbugs. They're baaaaccckkk.

It's funny, you always hear that expression, "don't let the bedbugs bite," but you never actually associate it with the very real phenomenon that spurred it, if you've never experienced it. And it may mean that we have to rethink the balance between comfort and perceived threats to health from pesticides. Of course, it's nothing compared to the holocaust caused by the banning of DDT. Thanks, Rachel!

It it me or does this,

Bedbug Task Force

sound like one of those crappy cartoons, they show after midnight for stoners, on Cartoon Network?

Just thought of this, I probably should have trademarked that idea before I posted it, oh man!

I don't know, maybe it's a generational thing, but I think most of those shows are hilarious, and I've never been high in my life. My $.02.

Nick,
it's generational then, there not funny. My conclusion was that the ONLY people up from midnight to sun up, watching weird new cartoons and reruns of old Scooby Doo shows, MUST be high.

I stand corrected.

I'm working out of state on a contract job. Earlier last year, another contractor at the same client and I happened to be staying at the same hotel. His room had bedbugs.

What doesn't help is inadequate respones. They bugbombed the room, but that didn't do anything. You have to essentially throw out all the furniture and bake the room at 200 degrees for a while to kill 'em all off. The hotel didn't bother getting rid of the furniture--my co-worker caught him out lying, by recognizing stains on the couch that had supposedly been replaced. By that time, who knows how many other rooms the infestation had spread to. (Shortly thereafter, I got an apartment, so I don't know how the story ended after those two half-hearted attempts at eradication.)

The translation of Japanese animation (anime) titles do tend to have that kind of unusual sound, it's true...

But the Japanese never regarded animation as primairily a children's mediun as has been the case in the US (at least until fairly recently...'Family Guy,' for example, definitely deserves its late-night slot). they're going for drama, and generally not trying to be comical.

Indeed, for its SF / cyperpunk /political intrigue / animation quality, I'd say if you follow only one anime franchise, it should be 'Ghost in the Shell.'

Other anime fans of whatever degeee (and I'm solidly a minor fan of it, compared to some I know), will likely have a different opinion...

And more OT, I've had only one incident with bedbugs, 10-odd years ago, confined to one room. And in my case, just one treatment of bed and room with a common, over the counter insect spray, combined with another OTC disinfectant spray (I admit, using them simultaneously in that confined environment may not have been wise, but I ventilated the room thorughly after about half a day), and through washing of all bedclothing took care of the problem.

But again, your mileage may vary, and I'm not a pest control professional...

Frank,
do ya' think that spraying combination wil get rid of the anime cartoon of Bedbug Task Force?

If someone could develop a more effective trap it sounds like they'd make a good amount of money. Apparently the little critters are attracted to heat and carbon dioxide, so if you could manufacture a trap that emitted a reasonable amount of both and killed any bedbug unfortunate enough to crawl in, I think you'd be on the right track. Likely such a device would have to be powered in order to work, either by batteries or more likely by plugging it in, but I don't think that's an insurmountable obstacle (and could even serve as a the basis by which the lethal blow was delivered--a quick jolt of high voltage, for example). The heat part is trivial. I can't think offhand of an easy way of producing the requisite flow of carbon dioxide, but I'm pretty sure something simple could be devised. A little fan would take care of wafting the CO2 down around the floor to attract the little beasties.

Anyways, just a thought.

Peter,
isn't this EXACTLY how those new propane "skeeter" traps work? Not sure how they would work inside.

Steve: Well, yeah, I was thinking along those sort of lines, though I think the propane thing wouldn't fly, if you'll forgive that atrocious pun, indoors. I was thinking something that would be small, cheap, and preferably electrically-powered. Obviously the heat part is easy, it was generating a steady supply of CO2 from such a device that had me scratching my head a bit. I just don't like this notion that we seem to be taking this bedbug thing lying down (sorry, I'm running on not much sleep, and the bad jokes just seem to come seeping out of every pore when that's the case). If pesticides are proving ineffective or difficult to employ, then I'm just doing some thinking out loud about how else the problem might be addressed. I do suffer a bit from parasite phobias, and I'd like to think that there are strategies that can be employed to beat back these little suckers (last one, I swear) again.

Nothing like getting rid of bedbugs only to die of CO2 poisoning why you sleep. I hope the device produces a substantially small amount of CO2. However, that's just basic engineering to overcome.

Peter,
I don't think, from what I've noodled out on this, that insecticides are ineffective. It's that they aren't using enough at any one spraying. Every body is so freaked out about chemicals!!

When I was a kid we lived in the same apt complex I live in now. They used to come in once a month and spray every inch of every baseboard, under kitchen and bathroom cabinets and anywhere else you requested. Now the spray near the cabinets, and kind of hit or miss around non-bedrooms. Skipping the bedrooms alone would let the little jewels make a come back, it seems to me.

If we ain't sprayin, the bugs'll be stayin'

Sounds like a job for nano technology. Tiny robots that wage war on beg bugs. Just sprinkle a few of the guys onto your bed and then download wirelessly the streaming video through your computer of the robots annihilating the infestation. That would blow anything away that the cartoon network could muster.

There is an anime about tiny robots killing cockroaches.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichigeki_Sachuu_Hoihoi-san

"In the year 20XX, insects have become immune to all pesticides. To combat the rising plague of cockroaches and other household pests, the tiny, doll-like extermination androids known as "Hoihoi-san" were created. They can hunt down insects and kill them with such miniaturized weapons as minuscule machine guns and tiny combat knives. They can also (and at the same time) be treated as dolls, by dressing them up in costumes and buying accessories for them. The main robot of the anime wears a maid uniform and rabbit ears as accessories."

Whatever wacky idea you can come up with, the Japanese have probably thought of it first, and merchandised it :p

Quote from JD: "Whatever wacky idea you can come up with, the Japanese have probably thought of it first, and merchandised it :p"

I hear ya. I wish I was Japanese.

-- 巨大な死のロボットJoshuasuki-san

Whatever wacky idea you can come up with, the Japanese have probably thought of it first, and merchandised it :p

Or, at least mechanized it.