"Happily, the bugs need to eat only once a month or less, he said. 'It's not so bad. You can hardly feel it.' A few days later at his home, Mr. Ecker demonstrated, tipping a vial of bugs onto his forearm, which the critters latched on to like hungry newborns, their bodies quickly swelling with blood." It gets grosser-so you may stop reading here or come and soldier bravely on with us.

Okay:

"Meanwhile, Mr. Rincon was cleaning vials, ensuring that the dogs learn to detect only live bugs and eggs. He swept the debris-bedbug feces, maybe some eggs-into plastic cups, which he filled with water and stuck in the freezer, since extreme temperatures are proven bug snuffers." The Times trumps all previous disgusting bedbug stories with this report on Jeremy Ecker, who trains bedbug-sniffing dogs for the pest-detection company that he and his partner, Oscar Rincon operate out of his home. And yes, once a month, Ecker feeds the specimens he raises for training on his own blood.

Seriously, it's rough going, consider yourself warned before clicking.

Between this and the boob-milk-cheese lady story, we are definitely sending a signal to the machines: It's almost harvest time.