Florida is flea heaven. Our warm winters and humid summers make reproducing a breeze, and our abundance of urban wildlife and wilderness areas means fleas have a movable feast pretty much everywhere they go. This can make flea control in Deerfield Beach difficult, but it needs to be done. The cost of a flea problem is simply too high to ignore these pesky external parasites.
How To Tell If It’s Fleas In Your Home
The problem with fleas is that a lot of homeowners don’t realize they have them until the infestation has become fully established. Flea bites can easily be mistaken for the bites of other insects, and although fleas are visible to the naked eye, they are very tiny and easy to miss. This means you can go a long time without realizing fleas are living on your property with you.
One way to tell if the insects that are biting you are fleas is the location of the bites. Fleas tend to bite the feet, ankles, and lower legs because these are the easiest spots to hop on and hop off human hosts. If you have untreated pets, you will also notice flea dirt and flea nests in their fur.
Another way to tell if it’s fleas is to look in common flea breeding spots. Shrubs, grass, carpet, and furniture are all common places for fleas to reproduce. If you inspect these areas and see something that looks like a tiny black dot hopping around (or a bunch of them), you know you have a flea problem.
Fleas In The Home Are A Health Hazard
Fleas might not be as dangerous as mosquitoes or ticks, but that does not mean these external parasites pose no risk. If you have pets, they can be infected with serious diseases from flea bites. However, humans are at risk too. Some of the diseases you can contract from fleas include:
Bartonellosis
Cat scratch fever
Murine typhus
Tularemia
Tungiasis
Though it is rare, it’s also possible to contract bubonic plague from fleas. In fact, these nasty parasites used to be one of the most common vectors for the plague, which means they used to be among the most dangerous animals on Earth. Although the plague is curable and quite rare now, it is still not an infection you want to contract. This is why keeping fleas off your property is so important.
Five No-Sweat Tips To Prevent Fleas In Your Home
Once you have a flea infestation, it is almost impossible to eliminate on your own. This is why you will want to focus your flea control efforts on prevention. The good news is that a few lifestyle changes can make your home significantly less likely to ever play host to a breeding population of fleas. To protect yourself, take measures like:
Treat cats, dogs, and other pets with appropriate flea preventive medication.
Wash pet bedding and toys frequently to eliminate potential nests.
Vacuum your carpet regularly, as fleas often shelter there.
Keep bushes trimmed and grass clipped short to reduce flea hiding spots.
Take measures to prevent wildlife from entering your property.
Keeping wildlife away can be especially important, as fleas often hitch a ride onto your property on animals like raccoons, rodents, and skunks. Once they have decided your property is a good place to set up shop, fleas can easily establish nesting sites and begin feeding on humans as they pass by. So cover your garbage and properly store pet food and pantry food to make your home less attractive to wild animals that could bring fleas with them.
The Best Way To Completely Get Rid Of A Flea Infestation
Unfortunately, if you already have an established flea infestation, then the likelihood of your being able to get rid of it on your own is slim. Things like flea dust, flea traps, and other store-bought flea repellent products are often not effective at eliminating existing breeding populations.
For the best flea control for your house and yard, don’t look to store-bought solutions. Trust the experts at GOTBUGSIKILL. Not only do we have the latest and greatest flea control products on the professional market, but we also have the training and know-how to effectively wield them against fleas. This means we won’t just temporarily reduce the number of fleas on your property, but we will eliminate their populations entirely.
So don’t keep scratching itchy bites and risking flea-borne infections. Contact GOTBUGSIKILL today!
