Patterson goes after Bed bugs

Thank goodness for that. I live in fear. Every once in a while another mattress appears on the curb on my block and a friend pointed out, rather darkly, that it's probably because of bedbugs that people are throwing away mattresses.

@Uraniumfish apparently their resilience baffles scientists as well http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/science/31bedbug.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&nl=nyregion&emc=ura1

@Everyone Even more bedbug fun: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/nyregion/02bedbugs.html?src=un&feedurl=http://json8.nytimes.com/pages/nyregion/index.jsonp

Ahhhhhhh! Let's not manifest this! Get it off the screen!

That's a good idea what Patterson is doing, Maybe it will make a difference.

@JenMac Thankfully they can't be attracted to the shiny glow of the computer screen! I'm more of a preparedness person: I patrol the perimeter of my bed with peppermint spray every day. I'm an obsessive, and hope that will be my best defence.

Good to know, @uptowngirl! Bedbugs are one of the most inconvenient housing problems around. My grandma had them ages ago and it was a horrible time for her.

@Everyone the bedbugs are it again, they just caused the Nike Flagship store on 57th Street to down its shutters http://dnainfo.com/20100918/midtown/bed-bugs-take-bite-out-of-nike-force-flagship-store-close

@uptowngirl Hah! You beat me to it. Here's TV news coverage about it: http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/bedbugs-attack-niketown-21990658

@Uraniumfish With all these store infestations,I now would think twice before trying on clothes in a store ..more reason to online shop I think.

Haha! The bedbugs are everywhere in NYC! Although I think having them in Victoria's Secret was the squickiest location of the lot, at least for us girls!

Aaaargh!! Just read on Huffpost , the bedbugs have reached my favorite store Bloomingdale's on 59th and Lex.. can you imagine what would happen if they reached Macy's at Herald Square??? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/28/bed-bugs-found-at-bloomin_n_742276.html

@uptown This is ridiculous! What the ! I live in fear already without having to hear about all these latest outbreaks.

@Uraniumfish wouldn't you rather know that walk in unsuspectingly to shop in one of these 'infected' joints.

@Uraniumfish youre going to kill me for mentioning this but seems like they are infesting public schools throughout the city as well.. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/25/nyregion/25bedbugs.html?src=me&ref=nyregion&nl=nyregion&emc=ura6

@uptowngirl Oh, man. It makes my skin crawl. This might be an instance where ignorance is bliss.

Okey doke, everybody. I am now officially ready to lose my mind. All summer long I have been sighting these critters around the apartment and wondering that they seem remarkably harmless. I've just come across reports of stink bugs spreading east, and now I can confirm that yes, they have got as far as my brownstone in New York, Brooklyn, Boerum Hill: http://www.nj.com/homegarden/garden/index.ssf/2009/10/stink_bugs.html

Every now and then I don't miss NYC. This is one of those times. Hopefully by my planned winter return they'll have gone south for the winter...

@Everyone finally a company develops a bed bug detector! I really think we all should invest in one http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20101010/SMALLBIZ/310109970

@uptowngirl I'm wondering about businesspeople profiting from bedbug paranoia, though. I'm happy with my peppermint, and the sheets smell so nice!

@Uraniumfish all this talk about bed bugs is suddenly making me very anxious. As you know my apartment is lying vacant in the city. Do you think it could have got infested? We are having it cleaned every month but since I am not around and the bed bug menace has reached epic proportions I am a bit worried. Maybe I should ask my cleaner to buy peppermint oil and place balls soaked with it around the apartment? Where did you buy the peppermint oil?

You can get peppermint oil at any whole foods store. I got mine around the corner at the vitamin shop, actually. But it doesn't seem that in your case bedbugs would have any reason to migrate into your apartment, even if, for example, the neighbors had bedbugs. They're looking for people they can bite, and if the apartment's uninhabited, what would they eat? Peppermint can't possibly hurt, though. It also keeps away mice, so it does double duty.

@Everybody: I had bedbugs years ago, and what a nuisance. They bite and leave marks on the body that itch. I would rather go in debt and buy a new mattress before I face those bedbugs again.

Lincoln Center has bedbugs! http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101015/ap_en_ot/us_bedbugs_lincoln_center

Man... I almost don't even want to comment on this and have to read any more about bed bugs. I will say that when I was looking at apartments earlier this month I didn't hesitate to ask every single broker if the building had had bed bugs. Most of them had to double check with the landlord, but none of them copped to the building's having been infested. In looking for a peppermint oil recipe to keep them away, I found this awesome site: http://bedbugger.com/ which is very creepy yet so informative.

Great site, NeverSleeps. And it sis indeed super creepy,n albeit rather fascinating.

@Everyone looks like all of NYC has been overrun by those nasty critters.. wait any sightings in Brooklyn? Queens? Staten Island ? anyone?

Does anyone know anyone at all who has them? I don't have any personal connections to the critters. At least, not that I know of. Would any of you tell your friends if you had bedbugs? They may never hang out with you again.

What great news, @neversleeps! A bedbug detector is doubtless a highly useful invention. Is the social stigma really that bad?

@ajadedidealist I am sure it is. There is mass hysteria about bed bugs and if you confessed to harboring them you can bet folks will treat you like a pariah.

So I was at Bed Bath & Beyond recently: they're selling mattress covers with the word bedbug on them for $100. However, if you decide you're nobody's fool to pay that much and go further into the back of the store, you will find mattress covers for $14.99 that are just as good, except they don't have the word bed bug on them. This hysteria is making people stupid, and others are profiting from it.

Dang, whoever started up Bedbugger really jumped on a hot blogging topic! Wish I had thought of it....