Fleas. Small reddish brown bloodsucking pests to people, animals, dogs, cats, and birds.
They bite, sucking your blood, leaving you with a persistent annoying itch. Fleas leave their little flea nesting places when the flea senses vibrations and the carbon dioxide that we breathe out.
There is about 30 days between flea egg laying and the flea adult stage. This is important because if you kill the adult fleas, the flea eggs are laying dormant waiting to hatch and when they do you get round #2 of flea infestations.
So lets get rid of the fleas. Cat fleas. Dog fleas. Bird fleas. Ferret fleas. Hamster fleas. Mice fleas. Rat fleas. Yes...people fleas. We all get these little pests.
PREVENTION:
- Indoor:Constant effective sanitation is very important because fleas feed on organic matter. Pets such as cats and dogs must be treated with effective repellents such as Frontline or Advantage applications, or at least bathed with insecticide soap frequently.
- Outdoor: Spraying a commercial insecticide, pellets, or lightly dusting with powered diatomacious earth (2 or more days before rain is expected), are your best alternatives. These products are available in most local stores or from internet pest control websites.
TREATMENT:
- NO COST TIP: Vacuum thoroughly before any of the flea treatments: Get as many fleas as you can up front. Trash the vacuum bag of fleas before the fleas can get out of it or put mothballs in the bag to kill the fleas before you vacuum.
- Fogging the house for Fleas: The most common flea and insect treatment also is probably the most effective...especially using 2 or more bombs. Fumigation with a flea bomb can be very dangerous and you must follow the directions on the flea bomb exactly. Flea bombs can be purchased on the internet and some local stores.
- Heating: If you can get your house to 90%, the fleas reportedly expire. Hmmmm.
- Spraying for Fleas: Commercial insecticides to be used indoors or for outdoor use for fleas and other insects are available locally or on the internet.
- Dehumidifier: Run the dehumidifier getting the moisture below 70% which will cause the fleas to leave.
- Nematodes do the fleas in: Purchase these locally or on the internet and spray them around the yard.
- Flea Traps: Lamp traps are effective. You can purchase one or (NO COST HINT) make one yourself using a low wattage bulb suspended above a bowl of soapy water. Turn the light on and they jump in and drown during the night. Commercial light traps use sticky boards to catch the attracted fleas.
- Powder: Use Diatomacious earth (DE garden strength) spread lightly around a room, left for several days and then vacuumed up. Use it in the yard when it is not going to rain for several days. Also a dusting of boric acid similar to the DE is effective. NO COST HINT: Or table salt made into a powder in your blender and then dusted into the rugs, cracks and crevices like the other two above, will dry out the fleas and they expire. Remember to vacuum the powder and the dead fleas days later.
- In many cases, the wisest alternative is to hire a professional pest control company to rid your house of these fleas. Use your local phone directory or visit a internet pest control website to find the contact information that you will need.
