Weird Housemates: 5 Most Bizarre Infestations of All Time

People are adverse to slimy, creepy, and crawly things. Unfortunately, we can find bizarre pests sharing living quarters with us, and that’s if we find out what exactly has invaded our space. In almost all cases, calling your professional exterminator is the wisest choice to make for ridding your home or business of these invaders, since you can never know if you’ve got them all. Here are five of the most bizarre housemate infestations who don’t intend to pay rent and cause a lot of havoc.

Bedbugs

Bedbugs are small tick-like insects that live in, under and around bedding, particularly mattresses and pillows. They can hide anywhere during the day, like in cracks and seams in headboards, baseboards, walls, and bedding materials. They feed primarily at night on sleeping occupants, delivering tiny bites to the skin that can be mistaken for tick or mosquito bites. They may travel by hiding in clothing, purses, backpacks, luggage, or shoes—actually vacationing with you! The female can produce 500 eggs in her lifetime. Single individuals can live up to a year sans food. Freshly hatched bedbugs will begin to feed immediately. Bedbugs are very hard to detect due to their minute size, and are therefore next to impossible to eliminate without professional help. If you get an infestation, your best bet is to call an exterminator immediately.

Blood Sucking Leeches

Blood sucking leeches are a bizarre type of leech that will feed on vertebrate animals, including humans. Contrary to popular belief, this type of leech does not need water, but only a small dry floor to attach itself to a passerby host. Some leeches can be brought in from an above ground pool or from a standing puddle of water. The jawed leech and regular leech attach to the host by sensing motion down by the feet and then climbing upward. They use a sucker or jaw to grab hold of the flesh and hang on. They feed by injecting a chemical anti-coagulant into the skin which allows the blood to remain thin and also aids in digesting it. The loss of blood is never great and allergic reactions and infections are rare. Leeches can begin to breed quickly if left to their own devices in on a property, so it’s wise to kill any that you run across. If you have an infestation on your property, there are chemicals you can use to remove them as well as natural means, like introducing red-eared sunfish.

Human Botfly

The human botfly is a type of larvae that lives inside the skin of mammals. They are parasitic insects and can infest a household by targeting a human host through the labors of another insect. The fly actually captures a mosquito and lays numerous eggs on its body. The mosquito will then land on a human where the eggs fall from the mosquito onto the human host. The eggs will hatch, disgorging a botfly maggot that then chews its way inside the flesh of the human. It will incubate inside a chewed-out channel for five to six weeks, occasionally popping up out of the skin to breathe. Eventually it crawls out of the hole, having swollen from feeding and falls to the ground. It then pupates into an adult botfly and then starts the reproductive process over again. Surgeons or doctors are recommended for the removal of botfly larvae because they are very hard to detect and remove properly.

Mites

A species of mites that causes the most problems are called scabies. Although most microscopic mites are actually beneficial and cause little or no harm to humans, the scabies mite can develop huge colonies and inflict hundreds of bites. These bites can be numerous and cause red lesions and extreme itching. A parasitic dermatitis infection can result that must be treated by a doctor who prescribes ointments. These infestations can get out of control and should be dealt with by a professional. For instance, for a pest management problem in Vancouver, an exterminator like Ted the Terminator Inc. would be a good bet.

Tapeworms

Tapeworms are primarily picked up through feeds and grasses by grazing animals. The tapeworms then inhabit the muscle tissue of the animal and remain there to lay eggs. When the animal is slaughtered and processed for human consumption, the meat is sometimes undercooked, allowing the eggs to live. The eggs are ingested by the human, and the larvae eggs hatch inside the intestinal walls of the human, becoming a full adult tapeworm. The adult tapeworms can then produce more eggs inside the human host. Some of the eggs can be released through the fecal matter but they can manage to survive around the toilet area, either being picked up again or being flushed through the sewage pipes to end up infecting the soil via septic systems. If you pick up a tapeworm, you’ll often discover it by noticing a drop in weight and overall health, despite how much nutrition you take in. In this case, you should go visit a doctor, who can give you medication to kill the worm.

Whenever you notice any perceptible itching, rashes, irritations and discolorations of the skin, it’s time to consider having a professional exterminator enter your home and perform a full pest and parasite inspection. Most harmful pests cannot be seen with the naked eye and it takes special equipment to detect and kill them. Regardless of the cleanliness of the home, yard, or individual, infestations can happen anywhere to anybody. Be prepared and look for the warning signs.