Do you or your exterminator know how to kill fleas?

 A Revisit to the flea problems

The new veterinarian products have all but eliminated the flea problem as we knew it in the early part of this last decade, these products were highly effective for many of the pest control exterminators and the pet owners. As usual this problem could be returning due to a resistance by the flea.

Lately flea business has increased due to the resistance to some of the on animal products and a rise in the flea population on undomesticated animals. Since the building boom in the middle 2000's the human population has slowly taken over the habitat of the wilder animals especially in the rural areas, What this means is these animals have no where else to go but to the areas where humans have built buildings and these animals have infiltrated these dwelling, Coyotes have adapted real well, racoons are another one, when you see one in your back yard there is a good chance the coyote or racoons has fleas,, these fleas could have come from a neighbors yard down the street with a built in resistance to any products your pest has been on for the last year or so.

As you know Rats have always been a contributor to move fleas from one location to another, so you see animals other than your own roaming around your home can be a contributing factor for flea infestation.

If the flea population has been in decline in the past years what will that mean to you if you have a problem? I would say you either need to brush up on the know how's of flea extermination or hire a professional exterminator that knows how.

Considering the limited knowledge of the exterminators, especially for the ones who have not had to confront the problem in the last 10 years, you as a potential customer may have a problem.

The problem is this unless you or the pest control company you hire has a working knowledge of how to kill fleas then you both will be the ones to suffer, you by not getting rid of the problem and the pest company for loss of revenue. So there are some preparations to consider and know about when confronting the flea problem.

The Cat Flea

The cat flea is the most common flea found in and around the home. The cat flea finds almost everything with warm blood a tasty food source. The reason this flea is called the cat flea because the cat is the host for the flea. But dogs are also the main host for this flea. The cat flea can live on almost any animal, they feed on almost any warm blooded mammal even humans. Now I don’t think they can sustain life on humans.

If you've never noticed, fleas only travel one way, they are skinny and move in a forward motion and they are very quick. Fleas have a tendency to hide in those areas you would not think of looking. But they are good at hiding until they need a blood feast to reproduce.

Once the flea has their meal source and lays eggs, the eggs will eventually roll off the host and on to the areas surrounding where the host mostly hangs out. The eggs will hatch into larvae that fee d on the fecal material of the adult flea, and then soon they will go into the pupa stage by spinning a cocoon. By the way, this is the hardest of all stages to kill the flea. Once the flea has evolved from the pupa stage the it will lay dormant until a host comes along to be its next meal ticket.

The flea will probably not be a health problem unless the infestation goes unchecked or unless your pet has some kind of allergic reaction to the bites. Then it is time to take action by getting rid of the fleas.

The cat flea is one of the biggest problems around so make sure you check your dogs, cats or animals periodically to make sure there is not a flea problems.