You've got Dust Bunnies! Yikes! Those sure ain't no fun! They poop everywhere and they even spread deadly diseases! It's true that there aren't many things worse than a dust bunny infestation now-a-days, especially if you have children or a newborn. They build nests in the walls and beneath the floors and can destroy the entire house before you even know they're there! Yikes!
Let's get started!
Well the first thing you'll notice when dealing with an infestation is the droppings they leave. They're unmissable due to the combination of their bioluminescent quality and extreme odor: though no bigger than a raisin, a Dust Bunny dropping smell as strong a human's if not more.
Eventually you'll start to notice wet spots coming from within the low points of your walls, close to the floors. While Dust Bunnies are a very dry creature, hence the name, their nests produce excess amounts of moisture due to their mating, gestation, and constant birth cycles. The smell coming from these wet spots will smell strongly of something similar to vinegar, not unlike the smell given off by a Pavement Pizza.
You'll also find the places where either the Drones or Hatchlings have been chewing on the wood surfaces in your home. Often times these bite marks will appear more frequently on the insides of walls, but they also will begin to chew on the doorways or even floor (if you have hardwood). This happens because in the early stages of a Dust Bunny hive the Queen will require pre-digested wood pulp to continue growing.
When the Queen starts feeding off of the wood pulp she begins to grow and moves away from the nests into a tight, cool space. At this point during her growth her body begins to develop harmful bacteria as an aftereffect. These bacteria vary depending on the subspecies, but they all cause the previously mentioned symptoms. Some forms of this bacteria have been known to cause things as extreme as Treatable Alzheimer's, Hallucinations, Organ Failure, and Hyper Tumors.
After the Queen has reached full maturity away from the hive and nests her diet changes from wood pulp to blood protein. The blood of humans, unfortunately for us, is coincidently perfect for feeding Dust Bunnies. The males Drones will leave during their nocturnal feeding periods and, very careful not to wake their host, drain blood through their hollow, needle-like teeth. The drones and nests feed on very little of this blood as they have such slow metabolisms and the majority of it will be taken and fed to the Queen. At this point, the Dust Bunnies may even leave the safety of your home and begin feeding on neighbors and even spread their nests.
If you catch the infestation early enough, before the queen is moved from the nest, you can deter Dust Bunnies by simply keeping your lights on at night! Dust Bunnies are a nocturnal species and will not take roost in an environment that never gets dark. But if the Queen has already matured this won't stop them. So keep those lights on and they�ll simply move on their way.
Much like your kids or ants, Dust Bunnies cannot resist sugar. If the infestation has gotten to the point of them taking blood, put large amounts of sugar around your bed. The Dust Bunnies will be drawn to the sugar instead and gorge themselves on it while taking any of the remaining sugar to the nest to feed to young. The full grown Drones will immediately die within 3 hours of consuming sugar, while the Hatchlings will be able to eat nothing but sugar from that point on. As the Drones continue to search for blood or die from sugar intake the Hatchlings will die of starvation ending the cycle and eventually killing the Queen.
As a final resort, after the Queen has reached full maturity and the infestation has reached its max, one can locate the Queen and suffocate her. The Queen's massive size at this point, about the size of a full grown Rhinoceros, will make this extremely dangerous and a professional should be called to handle the situation.
When the Queen is located her can be sealed into her roost, a tight space usually in attics or ceilings, using cement. When the cement has dried the Queen's air supply will be cut short and she will die of suffocation. When the Queen has died the hive will leave or die off slowly. All bodies must be removed from the home at this point because when they decompose they give off a toxic gas that causes organ failure.
Hopefully now you know how to deal with a Dust Bunny infestation before it gets out of hand! Check back later for more pest control information!