Rodeo Drive, known for its rich and famous, is fast becoming known for its small and irritating. Bedbugs first began infesting New York, now the pest problem is heading to the far west’s Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles.
Bedbugs have gathering in both the business and residential districts of Beverly Hills – the infestation starting in Spring 2010 and hitting the East Coast, in New York, heaviest first, even forcing the Hollister flagship store in New York’s SoHo neighborhood to close.
Confirmation of the bedbugs’ existence on the East Coast, and now West Coast, famous hotspots isn’t great news for travelers – proving even more alarming than the latest TSA controversies: at least frequent flyers can leave TSA behind, at the airports: bedbugs literally head home with travelers – hitching a ride on clothing like clothes and sweaters of holiday travelers during the Christmas and holiday seasons.
Getting rid of the pesty critters is no joke. The little critters can’t transfer disease – but they are known to carry quite a bite and create one hell of an itch. Brown and wingless, bedbugs are hearty little creatures: one bedbug can survive up to a year without eating a thing. Once you’ve got markings of an infestation, they’re hard to get rid of: spraying bedbugs and their eggs with rubbing alcohol will work. Rubbing alcohol dries out the pests’ bodies and will kill them, but the problem lies in having good aim and actually seeing them: unless bedbugs are sprayed directly with rubbing alcohol, the endeavor is a useless one.
The ban of DDT might help safeguard health – but the chemical is about the only stuff that held bedbugs and infestations at bay.
It all spells potentially big trouble for Rodeo Drive and its haute couture focuing on life’s big-ticket luxury items and clothing: bedbugs burrow into fabrics for the long haul, or transit to their next location. Amidst Rodeo’s storefront troubles are the ‘hush-hush’ rumors surrounding some of the nation’s most expensive hotels and new pesky “guests”. Cash usually equals better PR: the name of the “just-treated” storefront on legendary Rodeo Drive isn’t being released – but presence of bedbugs won’t stay limited, with shoppers traveling on foot from storefront to storefront, and carpet to carpet.
Bedbugs quickly burrow into carpets and fabric – similarly to fleas and other pests, where there’s one bedbug, there’s more – and most likely many. In a bedbug infestation, a single human can be bitten by a bedbug up to 500 times in one night. The bedbugs insert anesthetic simultaneously while drawing blood, so as not to wake the sleeper. Anything with fabric is a safe haven for the mini pests but in storefronts and businesses they can hide in crazy spots – including behind light fixtures and wall outlets, wood moldings, behind picture frames, etc.