(Graphic: Heather Wallace)
“Good night, sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite. If they do, then take your shoe, and knock ’em ’til they’re black and blue.”
Or, have your room fumigated.
That’s what two students living in the Russell House residence were forced to do when they found themselves sharing space with some unwelcome visitors from that children’s nursery rhyme.
First-year film student Amber Bentley and her roommate, first-year journalism student Sherry Aske, had only been living in Russell for a week when they began to notice they were acquiring small bites.
Once the two approached their residence fellow with the problem, the matter was handed over to housing services. The suspicion? Bedbugs.
“That same day an exterminator came in, inspected the beds and confirmed we had bedbugs. We had to put everything in bags, and stayed next door while they were here,” Bentley said.
Though the process only took around six hours, “we didn’t stay there that night,” she added.
Bedbugs are small, red, tick-like bugs that can thrive not only on beds, but on upholstered furniture, wooden surfaces and along carpet edges, according to the Pest Control Canada website. As a parasite, they feed off of human blood, and are extremely common.
While numbers have varied over the past couple of years at Carleton, there have already been three incidents of bedbug infestations this fall, according to Dave Sterritt, Carleton’s director of Housing and Conference Services. All three occurred in different residence buildings on campus.
“Hopefully we’ll only have three this year,” Sterritt said. “But it’s something we can’t control or predict. The best we can do is to respond promptly and appropriately when it does occur.”
This includes calling Carleton’s fumigation contractor to investigate the problem and commence the process of getting rid of the bugs by spraying the space with a chemical insecticide. Occupants are also required to wash or steam all their clothing and belongings.