Experience: I am human bedbug bait
I’ve been a publican for most of my working life, and if you’d told me 10 years ago that instead of being behind a bar I’d be sleeping with bedbugs for money, I’d have thrown you out for being drunk. Back in 2016, pub work began to dry up. I got chatting to David Cain, an acquaintance who runs the bedbug control company Bed Bugs Ltd, and told him I needed a job. He offered me work doing the deep cleans after they treated properties for infestations. Two weeks after the treatment, I would go in, strip the bed and do another clean to make sure there was nothing left. I’d clear up any treatment residue, give everything a good scrub, look for eggs, nymphs, and any signs of faecal or live samples. I was really grossed out.
Usually, if it’s a low-level infestation it can be eradicated in one session – if you catch it early it’s not as difficult to get rid of as people make out. We use a super-heated steam treatment and everything is completely green, which means you don’t have to leave your property or throw anything away.
For the first few months, I was just like, “Oh my God, this is disgusting.” It was horrendous. I was calling my daughter before I left work, saying, “Run me a bath, leave me a bin bag and dressing gown,” and I’d strip off at the door to make sure they wouldn’t come home with me. And they never have.
After I started to understand them and the way they behaved, I became absolutely fascinated by them. I still find them disgusting, but they are very clever creatures. They predate man; they used to live in caves on bats and then evolved to live off people.
About four years ago, David said: “I’ve been treating a hotel room, but they don’t want to let it out until they know for sure the bugs have gone, so do you fancy sleeping with bedbugs?” Bedbugs are attracted to the carbon dioxide we breathe out, and some clients will want to keep a warm body in the bed