It is easy to assume that a smaller pest isn’t an extremely harmful one. Pests like spiders, wasps, and rodents pose more of a threat to your health than tiny fleas, right? In some ways, these larger pests are more dangerous, in others they are not. Long story short, it’s not good to ignore fleas. These tiny blood-feeding pests pose a laundry list of threats to both people and pets alike and will cause trouble inside your home if they invade. To help you fend off these dangerous pests, here are some things to consider.
How Common Are Fleas
Fleas are much more common than you might think. Out in nature, these pests live inside the fur of wildlife and feed on blood to survive. A female flea produces around 2,000 eggs in her lifetimes. That’s roughly 50 eggs a day for 50 days total. A sizable number of these eggs fall off and die before reaching adulthood, but you still get our point. Fleas are everywhere and are always looking for more opportunities to find a good meal.
Some Ways Fleas Invade Homes
When it comes to invading a home, fleas have options. They can be brought indoors from one of your pets outdoors. Fleas can hide on the backs of rodents. Some fleas will ride into homes on the backs of invasive birds and bats. If all else fails, these small parasitic pests might take invasion into their own hands and crawl through an opening in your home themselves. In short, fleas have options.
Why Fleas Are Hard To Deal With
Fleas are incredibly small and only grow to be an eighth of an inch in length; this pest’s jump, however, is anything but small. A fully grown flea can jump over a foot into the air and use this ability to get from one host to another. Inside homes fleas use their small size and mobility to avoid danger. Even if you treat your living areas for these pests, they can still hide inside your walls where they can live up to 100 days without a blood meal. Once the danger is gone, they will simply hop back out and continue to cause trouble.
The Danger Of Fleas
Despite their small size, fleas are incredibly dangerous pests. The biggest danger these small insects pose is the diseases they carry and spread. Some of the most common diseases fleas carry and transmit include the bubonic plague, murine typhus, tularemia, and tungiasis. If you have never heard of the bubonic plague, it is one of the most deadly diseases in human history and was responsible for over 25 million deaths during the late 1600s. Fortunately, more advanced treatments for flea-borne diseases exist today, but contracting something from one of these pests is still extremely unpleasant.
How To Handle A Flea Infestation
If you suspect fleas are crawling and jumping around your Tracy home, there is only one thing left for you to do: call a professional! At ProActive Pest Control, we pride ourselves on our comprehensive flea elimination services.
If your home needs quick pest removal or ongoing pest control, we have options. Contact us today to remove a flea infestation or reduce your chances of one in the future.