New York is Being Eaten Alive!

When most people visit New York, they know to watch out for our legendary rats. And anyone who shrieks at the sight of a cockroach would be well advised to steer clear of Manhattan altogether. But these days, a long forgotten menace is once again threatening the greatest city on Earth. And it’s hiding where you’d least expect it. In your bed.

Until 2005, it had been decades since most New Yorkers had come across a bed bug. Then, last year, the creepy little bloodsuckers decided to stage a comeback. Carried into homes on pant legs and pets, they crawled into mattresses all over town and waited for nightfall. Soon, students in rundown apartments on the Lower East Side and socialites in Fifth Avenue mansions began waking up with the same red welts all over their bodies. Little specks of blood spotted their sheets and pillowcases. Within days, exterminators across the city had received thousands of frantic calls. One thing was clear: The people of New York were being consumed by bed bugs.

Some of the nastiest, most disgusting pests on the planet, bed bugs are tiny, flat insects that feed only on blood. Small enough to hide in the joints of bed posts and the seams of mattresses, they are almost impossible to kill. In New York, the problem has gotten so bad that many of our finest hotels are now infested, but other cities around the world are now beginning to show signs of similar bed bug epidemics.

For tips on winning the war against bedbugs, click here.
For more information, and some truly nasty photos, click here.