Every pet owner has probably heard plenty about fleas. This common parasite poses a problem for dog and cat owners all across the country, but did you know you can wind up with a flea infestation even if you don’t have pets? Or that fleas can feed on people just as easily as pets? Or that fleas can live just about anywhere, not just on animals? Below, we’ll talk about what fleas are all about, how you wind up with fleas, and what you can do to keep these blood-feeding parasites off your New Hampshire property.
Fleas Are No Fun
Fleas are parasitic insects that feed externally on the blood of their hosts. Fleas employ one of two strategies. They can either live directly on their hosts, breeding, nesting, and passing multiple generations, all in the fur of the animal they’ve infested. Or they can hop on, grab a bite of fast food, and hop off. The latter strategy is what fleas tend to do with humans because it’s hard to live on us – even our head hair is too fine and thin for fleas to really thrive in it. Fleas live much better in fur, which is why they’re more likely to live on dogs and cats than on humans.
When they infest your home, fleas can breed and lay eggs just about anywhere. They may infest your furniture, your carpet, or even your landscaping and lawn. Even if you don’t have pets, you still have to worry about fleas.
While pet owners might wind up bringing fleas home when they take their dogs to the park or let the cat out to wander, nonowners usually wind up with fleas when wildlife infestations set up shop in their homes. Squirrels, bats, rats, mice, and any other furry mammal can introduce fleas into your home if they’re living in it. That means one of the best ways to prevent fleas is to keep wildlife out of your house and off your land.
No More Fleas, If You Please!
Flea prevention will be a little different for pet owners and nonowners, but everyone needs to keep a weather eye out for mammalian pests if they want to avoid fleas. Rats and mice are the most common perpetrators when it comes to introducing fleas into your home, so if you don’t already have fleas, your prevention measures can start with these rodents:
Cover all indoor and outdoor trash so rodents cannot access it.
Make sure to store pantry foods in airtight, hard plastic containers.
Seal all holes in your home’s exterior. Don’t forget to cap chimneys and ventilation holes so bats and squirrels cannot access your attic.
Other ways to prevent fleas on your property include:
Talk to your veterinarian about preventative medicines so pets cannot be flea vectors.
Bathe pets and clean their bedding frequently.
Keep landscaping trimmed and grass clipped short.
Make sure to clean furniture and vacuum carpets regularly to suck up individual fleas before they can start breeding.
Once they’re in your home, fleas can be difficult to evict. They breed so fast that killing the entire population can be next to impossible. What’s even worse is that fleas have developed high resistance to a large number of over-the-counter (OTC) insecticides commonly used by homeowners. That means you’ll need professional help.
Here at Master Mosquito Control, we keep up with the latest and greatest pest control technologies so no flea population can develop resistance faster than we update our tools and methods. So visit our contact page to schedule your inspection today!