Spring is the beginning of warmer days, longer nights, flowers blooming, and neighborhood barbeques. But you might not be thinking about the other season that creeps up as temperatures rise. Mosquito Joe season! (Also known as mosquito, flea and tick season.) If you read our blog post highlighting ticks, you know tiny bugs can pack big punches when it comes to your health, your pets, and your home. The next target in our educational series (another of our targets in your yard) is no different. It’s time for a lesson on….fleas.
Why We Hate Fleas
Most people know the common annoyances of fleas for cats, dogs, and sometimes even humans. Their bites are itchy, their saliva can be an allergen causing rashes, and they can cause skin problems when your cat or dog scratches incessantly. What many people don’t know is that fleas actually carry diseases just like mosquitoes and ticks. Fleas find “hosts” and those hosts are warm blooded animals. Naturally they are usually dogs and cats, but they can also be opossums, rats, and other rodents. According to the ASPCA, since fleas can consume 15 times their own body weight in blood, they can cause anemia and a significant amount of blood loss over time. They can even cause tapeworm!
Did You Know?
We won’t call these “fun facts” since there is nothing fun about a flea infestation.
- The flea was actually the cause of the bubonic plague in the middle ages! It is still the carrier of the plague today, but thank goodness for antibiotics.
- When searching for a host fleas can jump over 10,000 times in a row…the length of three football fields!
- Fleas can bite up to 400 times a day!
- A female flea can lay 2,000 eggs.
- On average, a flea lives 2-3 months.
Flea Prevention and Treatment
With something this determined you want to make sure you are doing everything you can to keep fleas out of your home. If you have pets, veterinarians recommend a monthly flea and tick preventative given once a month during ALL seasons. Only giving your dog or cat flea treatments during spring and summer is not effective. What your vet might fail to mention is the first step in flea prevention is treating your yard. Our mosquito control services also kill and prevent fleas and ticks, so let Mosquito Joe be your first line of defense against these disease carrying pests. Contact us today for a free quote. We have no contracts and no obligations, just mosquito treatment solutions.
Once you have a flea free yard and pet, check out this fun craft project from Modern Dog Magazine for you and your four-legged friend(s)!
Sources: www.healthypet.com, photo credit
