I've mentioned it before, I'm writing about it
now and, if you stick around, it will probably come up sometime in the future
too. I hate bugs! It’s not a paralyzing phobia, I reserve that
for visits to the dentist, it’s just that creepy, crawly feeling of “ICK”. Have you ever been sitting somewhere,
indoors or out, and suddenly a spider drops down on its single strand of
silk like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible?
There’s that moment of disbelief followed quickly by the paralyzing
second of absolute uselessness because you’re not sure what to do and then,
channeling your inner Little Miss Muffet you make a run for it. And, of course there is the spider that you
see scurrying across the floor or up the wall.
You turn your head for a split second to grab something to squish it
with and when you turn back it’s gone.
Worst feeling ever! Okay, okay,
maybe not EVER, but its up there in the top ten seven five, yeah five.
I don’t always squish bugs when I see them. I once walked into the bathroom at work,
turned on the light and saw a cricket scurry towards the baseboards. The poor little thing was so frightened it
was trying, very unsuccessfully, to hide itself. There was no way I could stomp on it and squash it. I picked up an empty bathroom tissue roll,
plugged one end with a paper towel and, anticipating the necessity for a quick
maneuver, I had another wad of paper towel in my other hand while I scooped the
cricket into the tube. I took it
outside onto a patchy piece of grass, wished it well and let it go. Best-case scenario, the cricket would not be
eaten by the next bird that flew by and the whole episode would grant me some
good Karma in future dealings with insects.
Good Karma I might possibly need in light of an article I came across
recently.
Peggi-jean Cooper was reading the newest Peter Robinson
murder mystery in bed one night when suddenly a bug crawled out of the spine of
the book. The brown bug was “the size
of an apple seed”. If that had happened
to me I would have dropped the book and started jumping around like River Dance
on fast forward. Peggi-jean, obviously
a more rational soul than myself, “made sure the suspicious insect got
well-acquainted with the heel of her foot”.
Her suspicions about the nature of the beast were confirmed when two
more bugs made their way out of the book.
Not wanting to take any chances she immediately placed the novel and its
gruesome contents into a Ziploc bag and, no doubt, sealed it tightly. The book had been borrowed from her local
branch of the library.
I am quite sure this is not the type of publicity libraries
care to have, but bad news for the library PR department, as it turns out
Peggi-jean’s husband, David, is a photographer for the Toronto Star newspaper.
Bed bugs have been known as human parasites for thousands
of years. Wikipedia states that at a
point in the early 1940’s they were mostly eradicated in the developed world,
but have increased in prevalence since 1995.
Although bed bugs can be found singly, they tend to congregate once
established. Understanding how quickly
bed bugs can become an infestation the Toronto Star sent a team of its
reporters to find out the full extent of the “book bug” infestation.
To quote from the article:
“In 2010, bed bugs were first reported at the Toronto
Public Library’s Parliament, Yorkville, and Reference Library branches. It turns out that female bedbugs can lay
their eggs in the spines of hard-cover books … However, as the parasites feed
exclusively on human blood, it’s difficult for them to survive on a bookshelf
for long, so most are found in books that are heavily circulated – such as the
one written by Mr. Robinson.”
Great! I use my
library A LOT! I've always given
myself a little pat on the back because, through various sources, I get the
heads up on release dates for my favourite authors and reserve the books I
don’t plan on purchasing through my library’s website. Often, depending on the quickness of other
equally informed library users, I am the first or second person to receive the
book when the library puts it into circulation. It’s not reassuring to know that heavily circulated books may be
the most likely to be infested. My skin
is crawling as I type this, but in the spirit of warning other unsuspecting
library patrons everywhere … I soldier on!
The article went on to say:
“Finding a bed bug in a book is rare: in 2012, the library
had 24 confirmed bed bug cases; to put that number in perspective, Toronto’s
public library system has 1.2 million members and an annual circulation of 31
million items. Moreover, the library
has excellent preventative measures in place to ensure that scenarios like this
don’t happen often. Each and every book
that is returned to the library is first visually inspected, and if a book or
item looks suspicious, staff will seal the book. Should a book have bed bugs, the library will not hesitate to
destroy the book.”
Methinks the library doth
protest too much. Not wanting to
necessarily call the official line of the Toronto library a bit of a crock, I
have personal experience that does not bode well for veracity of the “each
and every book … is first visually inspected”. Granted, I do not live in Toronto hence I do
not use their library system, but I have borrowed books from various branches
of my city’s public library only to discover other people’s bookmarks, grocery
lists and even credit card receipts tucked between the pages. Never, never, never a bed bug thankfully! Not wanting to bore you with the specifics,
I once left a CD in the front cover of a library book. After I threw the book into the night
returns slot I realized what I had done.
The next day – almost a full 24 hours later – I walked into the library,
took the book off the shelf and much to my relief that it was there, removed my
CD and left. If the library does such a
thorough inspection of books you would think that giving the book a once over
and a shake would dislodge those miscellaneous items.
The Toronto Star article
goes on to say, “In fact, it is more likely that someone will get bed
bugs riding the subway than they will reading a book”. Not all that
reassuring! Cross using public transportation
off my list too?
So what’s to blame for the
re-emergence of these pesky little bloodsuckers?
Having bed bugs
is not a sign of dirt, filth or lack of cleanliness. In fact, like so many of their brethren bugs, they prefer a clean
environment. They do like cosy little
places where they can snuggle down and wait for their next meal to show
up. That next meal preferably being human – they
like to hunker down in furniture and the like.
In the 1980’s the EPA outlawed the chemicals used to treat furniture and
mattresses. Since then the bed bug
population has made a worldwide comeback.
Obviously, with the increase in international travel, they also pack
themselves away for transatlantic flights nestled inside of suitcases. Fortunately, bed bugs are more annoying than
they are hazardous. Uh-huh! Apparently there
have been no studies that indicate bed bugs transmit disease to people. One expert (whose name I forgot to note …
sorry) said, “Bedbugs cause itching, of course, but they don’t spread
any systemic illness and nobody dies from them. The key is that the problem seems to be spreading and that it
stands in for – and reflects back to us – our social anxieties, our worries
that the culture has somehow gone too far.”
If you feel the need to
know almost everything there is to know about bed bugs, that information can be
found here http://www.edrants.com/_img/pestworldsurvey2011.pdf
I don’t really care about
all that! They are bugs! I don’t want ‘em!
But back to the library; for anyone feeling a little superior about the bed bug issue because I
have targeted Canadian libraries let me assure you there have been reports
about bed bugs in library books in most major metropolitan cities across North
America. The Big Apple comes in at number
one for highest rates of bed bug infestations (overall, not just libraries)
with Philadelphia, Detroit, Cincinnati and Chicago following not far
behind. Lest any Californians feel smug
about not making the list, I've just saved you for last, only because the bed
bugs in your libraries seem to have a sense of humour. The bed bug starring in the following article was found inside a copy of
“Dead Reckoning”, the latest True Blood novel.
I'm sure the little guy was disappointed to find the title had nothing
to do with what was between the pages.
Personally, the burning question is how do I stop from
bringing these little parasites into my home?
One suggestion is to take a close look at the book. If the infestation has been ongoing there
are visual signs of spots and dots and little dried bed bug carcasses. If these are noticeable point it out to
library staff immediately.
Another is to take precautions for “safe reading”. Before you take that book to bed with you,
place it in a tightly sealed Ziplocä bag and put it in the freezer for 24 hours.
Originally posted on 10/18/2013
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