KULPMONT, NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY --Blood-sucking pests are hatching huge problems across the country. And you may not even know they're in your home until you're fast asleep.

Over the past several years the bed bug problem has grown by almost epidemic proportions. Some blame today's weaker pesticides and an increase in travel. Whatever the cause, the Mid-Atlantic region is crawling with these mini-monsters --that strike where you think you're most secure.

Good night, sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite." But they did. Steve Yetters says “my fiance started noticing red spots on her body." Bed bugs multiplied throughout Steve Yetter's home in Kulpmont, Northumberland County -sucking blood when the lights go out. When an exterminator moved his headboard. Steve Yetters says “literally thousands of bugs came flying out of this thing." The Yetter's unwelcome intruders are spreading like wildfire across the country.

Rick Macko of Pestmaster Services “they're getting real bad. They're up 30 percent from last year.” Rick Macko of Pestmaster Services of Luzerne County says you can get bed bugs from hotels, second-hand clothing and furniture, taxis, even movie theaters. Wherever the suckers can burrow and find a bloody meal. But once they hitch a ride on you --they're hard to get out of your house. "We've actually found eggs in screws of receptacle covers." So small, humans can miss them.

"She’s a bed bug dog." But the new weapon in the bed bug battle, doesn't. “She'll sniff out within a foot of where that bed bug is." And sure enough Sophie found the vial of bugs hidden in our newsroom. "It saves us a lot of time and the customer a lot of money."

"This was a brand new set." Steve paid more than $1500 to clear out the bugs --not to mention the cost of new furniture. He blames Rent-A-Center in Coal Township for renting him an infested bedroom suite. "Their sterilization process they're supposed to go through to prevent this from happening on rental return furniture, it obviously did not occur on this." Now that he beat the bugs, Steve is warning others to watch what other creepy crawlers may be lurking in your bed.

A Rent-A-Center spokesperson says the company paid Steve 300 dollars and gave him a new bed. They also claim they go to enormous lengths to make sure nothing they rent has bed bugs.

How do you spot them? You may find black or reddish streaks on the sheets. Also pull the sheets back and look closely around the seams and edges of the mattress. Check furniture and draperies. They're about the size of an apple seed.

Find out if you have bed bugs http://pest.tips.net/Pages/T006600_Knowing_If_You_Have_Bedbugs.html

Pestmaster Services www.pestmaster.com