Fleas –Pesky bloodsuckers
Fleas are extremely pesky and external parasites. This is because fleas have mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood. They live off the blood from mammals which include us humans, bats and also birds.
These nasty bloodsuckers are one of the best jumpers of all known insects as they can leap 200 times their own body length which is an amazing feat, second only to froghoppers.
It is well known that fleas are tough to kill as they can jump so fast from one place to another that they seem to disappear and appear a few feet away. Furthermore, the body of a flea is hard, polished and covered with many hairs and short spines. The tough and tiny body is able to withstand great pressure, likely an adaptation to survive through attempts by humans to eliminate them by mashing or scratching. This can be disconcerting as even hard squeezing between the fingers is normally insufficient to kill a flea unless you have long nails which can be used to crush the pest.
Eliminating Fleas
Step 1
Having a pet at home has a high likelihood that you would be getting flea attacks. If your cat or dog is infested with fleas, well, it definitely has to be shampooed. There should be no problem washing dogs, but, for felines is an entirely different matter as water is like heaven and hell to them. Anyhow, flea shampoos are readily available in many hypermarkets and pet stores.
You can simply run a bathtub full of warm or cool water, gently place your squirming pet in the water and use a cup to prerinse it. Apply soap thoroughly, focusing especially on the areas where the fleas may be. The biggest mistake you can make is rinsing the soap off right away. If your dog is whining, just let it whine as it is for the better. When you see fleas leaping out of your dog’s fur and into the water to be drowned, your dog is flea free and you can proceed to rinse the soap off your pet.
Step 2
The yard is a place where fleas roam freely. The easiest solution at this stage is to use a flea pesticide which usually comes in a spray bottle that you can spray in your yard. The best way is to start from the edges of your house and slowly work your way to the middle. This will keep new fleas from coming into your home.
Step 3
The biggest challenge is to vacuum your house thoroughly as this will suck up any fleas, living or dead. Other than vacuuming, you could use a flea bomb which will fog your house. The only drawback of this method is that you have to get out of your house for a few hours for the fogging mist to dissipate.