Created: 11/17/2008 5:16:05 PM 
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- At least one First Coast pest control expert says she's expecting a lot of families to start calling soon, with complaints about bed bugs.
Why? College kids are on their way home for the holidays, and as First Coast News found out, bed bugs may be coming with them.
We spoke with one family already battling the bugs.
It started in the middle of the night, sometime in April or May, Nicole Fenton and her son were waking up itching.
"We started to get bit. It's excruciating, you wake up in the middle of the night itching and you see bumps everywhere. It's not just like a mosquito bite or something, they're multiple bumps, 20 in a spot," said Fenton.She quickly discovered what had invaded her home was much worse than almost any other insect: bed bugs.
"They are absolutely the most difficult insects to get rid of," said Linda Prentice, with Bug Out Pest Services.Prentice says the bugs are hard to prevent, and once they've made themselves at home in your home, all you can do is slow the spread.
"Any high temperature will help tremendously," said Prentice.
Problem is, she says it could be months before a homeowner realizes what's going on. But you could still catch the problem early, if you know what to look for.
"You're looking for a small apple-seed shaped insect, you're looking for blood stains on the mattress. You're looking for bites on your arms," said Prentice.
Fenton says her home became so infested, she had to throw out the beds and her couch.
"I cannot keep up with this. I cannot keep up with this, I don't know what to do," said Prentice.
And as a single mother on a fixed income, Fenton says she can't afford a professional treatment, so she's stuck dealing with the impossible task of ridding her home of bed bugs on her own.
But experts on the stubborn pests say once your home is infested, you'll need a professional to get rid of them - and that can cost hundreds of dollars per room.
Where do they come from? Prentice says hotels, motels, resorts, even airplanes. She says the problem has nothing to do with being dirty, unhygienic, or unclean. She says most people who have problems with bed bugs are those who can afford to travel.
Prentice says the best way to prevent bringing home the hitchhiking pests, is to take a flashlight with you when you travel and use it to look for the bugs and their bloody remnants in the hotel mattresses, headboards, dressers, behind wall hangings, and wherever else the flat critters can hide. That includes your suitcase when you're ready to go home.
Click here for more information on how to detect, prevent, and stop bed bugs.
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