ed bugs are making a comeback nationwide and the pest control industry is seeking new technologies to combat the increasingly pesticide-resistant insects. Cutting-edge technologies at both ends of the temperature spectrum include Cryonite which uses a non-toxic carbon dioxide snow to instantly freeze and kill the noxious pests and giant infrared heaters that raise the temperature in a room and bake the bugs to death. The University of Minnesota is working on a trap that simulates a sleeping human,
the bed bug’s favorite meal.
Perhaps the most popular weapon in the bed bug-fighting arsenal – possibly because of its sloppy kisses and wagging tail – is the dog. Dogs, which have been trained to sniff out weapons, arson, drugs, missing persons, termites and cancer, are now being trained to detect and pinpoint bed bugs and their eggs, helping exterminators target treatment areas.
The average dog has 200 to 250 million scent receptors in its nose. Its nasal membranes cover seven square meters. In comparison, human nasal membranes cover barely half a meter and contain only 5 million receptors. A dog’s scenting ability is so sensitive it can smell things that can’t be detected by the most sensitive scientific instruments. Depending on the dog and its training, a dog’s sensitivity to odors is 10 to 100 times greater than man’s.
“A dog’s nose is cutting-edge technology,” Carl Massicott, owner of Connecticut’s Advanced K9 Detectives, told the New York Daily News. “Our animals are 100 percent honest and trained to work for food and love instead of profits.” It’s the dog owners who are raking in the profits. Depending on facility size and travel time, the cost of K-9 bed bug detection is about $200 per hour. Pigeon deterrents
Typically K-9 services provide initial and follow-up detection but not bed bug extermination services. Dogs can help pest control experts determine what areas to treat and in follow-up can indicate whether all bed bugs have been killed.
A trained dog can thoroughly investigate a room and locate bed bug infestations in two to three minutes, less time than it takes a human technician who must rely on visual clues which can require a thorough inspection of the home. Typically, dogs can detect infestations within a three-foot radius but may not be able to narrow it down further. For example, a dog may indicate that bed bugs are under a piece of furniture but be unable to indicate whether the bugs are hiding in furniture joints or floorboard crevices. Dogs are trained to alert their handlers to the presence of bed bugs by swatting a