Fleas

Blood Sucking Parasite

Fleas have zero purpose on this Earth. Those tiny blood sucking vampires are a pain in the rear to get rid of. They feed on any warm blooded animal or human and can live up to 100 days without feeding at all. Fleas will consume up to 15 times their body weight on a daily basis, so they are thirsty little pests. Fleas have been around for abut 50 million years, +/- a couple million years. Just too bad they didn’t exist around 80 million years ago, as they would have likely been taken out by the meteor that killed off the dinosaurs. Why God created fleas, is beyond me. Maybe it was His sense of humor.

There are many ways to eliminate Fleas in your home and on your pets. A good natural and effective way to rid them from your home and pets, is to use lemon water. You can spray your pets as well as your carpets. Vacuuming is imperative. A daily vacuum will make it hard for Fleas to get comfortable in your home and allows you the ability to throw them out with the trash. Ninety-One percent or high rubbing alcohol will also kill them on contact. But you never want to spray your animals with alcohol.

 

Below are 10 facts known about Fleas

1. Fleas have four life stages

  • Egg
  • Larva
  • Pupa
  • Biting Adult

2. Fleas feed on the blood of their host

  • Humans
  • Birds
  • Reptiles
  • Wild and Domestic Animals

 

3. The female flea can lay 2,000 eggs in her lifetime.

4. A flea can live more than 100 days without a blood meal.

5. The female flea consumes 15 times her own body weight in blood daily.

6. A flea can jump up to 8 inches high, or approximately 150 times its own height. That’s like if you could leap over tall buildings in a single bound.

7. Pets with fleas may develop anemia, tapeworms or intense bouts of itching (pruritus).

8. Some pets may develop an allergy to flea saliva, which causes severe irritation and itchiness.

9. The best way to check for fleas

  • Flea Comb

10. Even though there are more than 2,000 known species and subspecies of fleas, one flea species — the cat flea — accounts for most of the dog and cat flea cases found in the U.S.