new article: flea panic, death, the plague and diatomaceous earth

[Paul Wheaton]

In the past, folks here have asked me to post something here when I have a new article.

Recent craziness has put me into being obsessed with fleas. There is a lot of misinformation being pushed to stir fear and panic. And it is amazing how effective ignorance combined with a little fear mongering can be.

Please take a look at my article on flea control

Have I left any important stuff out?

[trappmountain]

Very good article! I understood and learned a lot. Thank you!

[TedH71]

That person is sadly mistaken about fleas not causing harm to your pets. If a dog or cat ingests a flea..they carry a parasite that is a tapeworm which then hatches and develops in your dog/cat and comes out in the stool and eating up the food that the animal needs. Puppies/kittens can die from a heavy flea infestation and some animals are ALLERGIC to flea bites. They can't hurt people though.

[Helena]

I remember have "sand" fleas from a park one time !! What a nightmare !! We spread moth ball flakes over the whole house..smell !! but within a day or so they were gone and I just vacuum really well. Of course..you wouldn't want any pets or children around while doing this...was told it had something to do with their breathing...probably..it sure smelled...but solved the problem..a little off the topic..but thought I'd pass it on !!

[Jennifer L.]

Paul, you must not have an allergy to fleas yourself or you wouldn't call them " nothing more than a minor nuisance". Believe me, it's terrible if you have the allergy.

One of my dogs has it as well, and she scratches and digs herself hairless if they get her. One bite triggers it. A flea comb? Well, last year with an ineffective treatment I'd comb out up to three dozen fleas a day, with a dozen or more the average. That's no answer.

If organics work, fine, but don't downplay the severity of the impact fleas can have.

Jennifer

[BaronsMom]

Originally Posted by Paul Wheaton

In the past, folks here have asked me to post something here when I have a new article.

Recent craziness has put me into being obsessed with fleas. There is a lot of misinformation being pushed to stir fear and panic. And it is amazing how effective ignorance combined with a little fear mongering can be.

Please take a look: www.richsoil.com/fleas

Have I left any important stuff out?

One of the tools you included was steamcleaning. Steamcleaning should be one of the tactics used for fleas - but your premise is totally wrong.

You don't steamclean carpets to drown the fleas. The reason people use steamcleaning (after vaccuming) is to get the crud out of the carpet the larval fleas feed on.

Wikipedia is a fun site but DEFINITELY not a trusted resource. You need to go back to looking for research-based sites with .edu on the end...

[Paul Wheaton]

Jennifer,

90% of the population is allergic. Hence, the welts that itch. That is an allergic reaction.

BaronsMom,

Good point about the larva food!

As for reading pages that end in .edu - I did. I've probably read over a hundred web pages on fleas in the last month. Lots of those ending in .edu or .gov.

[Danaus29]

I don't think I want to try flea combing the raccoon that lives in the attic of our vacant house (currently in the process of coon proofing the place). I can tell you that the day I sprayed flea spray all around inside the house, I came out with over 25 fleas on ME! And it does get really really hot inside that attic. Makes me wonder why an animal in a fur coat would want to spend the day there???? Tape wrapped around your ankles (sealing the part between shoes and pant legs) works great for trapping fleas, but as we found out with the packing tape the fleas can jump off tape. The tape works wonders for getting them off you, as long as you fold the tape over and seal the flea in.

[Paul Wheaton]

Trap the coon.

Dust the house with DE.

Put out flea traps.

Suppose you had 500 fleas in the house right now. And you were getting 20 new adult fleas each day. In the first three days you will probably kill 95% or more of the existing population. You will then kill the emerging fleas for the next month, and then they will be gone.

[Danaus29]

House has been dusted, electric was turned back on and we plan on vacuuming every so often. When dh has some time we plan on coon hunting.

Forgot to say that IMO, it is a good article, well written and easily understood.

[Paul Wheaton]

Originally Posted by Danaus29

House has been dusted, electric was turned back on and we plan on vacuuming every so often. When dh has some time we plan on coon hunting.

Forgot to say that IMO, it is a good article, well written and easily understood.

Thanks!

Did you put the flea traps out? If you can get them out the very first day, then you might catch hundreds right away with the traps. Then, I suspect, it will quickly drop. Then you might see a couple dozen a day for a while.

Those little traps act as a flea-o-meter. You have to witness how well they catch at first so that you can then build trust in them. When you see them loaded with dead fleas in the morning, and then later see zero, you can get the peace of mind of knowing there are no more fleas. If you put them out later and there are zero fleas, you wonder if the trap works.

[weaubleaumo]

Originally Posted by Danaus29

House has been dusted, electric was turned back on and we plan on vacuuming every so often. When dh has some time we plan on coon hunting.

Try a light and a radio tuned to a "Fire and Brimstone" station... It works on MY clockradio
The coon will likely leave they don't like light and preaching seems to have the same effect as it does on golfers and fishermen... "oops gotta go-"

[Danaus29]

Where do you get flea traps? TSC doesn't carry them. Would a pet store have them?

Previous owner tried moth balls, lights, and noise. Soon as you forget back it comes. And with all the coons in the hood, it won't be long before another takes it's place. Coon proofing the house seems to be the only solution. All in due time.

[Paul Wheaton]

As described in the article: nothing more than a dinner plate with some soapy water in it, sitting next to a light. At night the fleas are drawn to the light and they drown in the soapy water.

Using lots of these traps will catch about 95% of the fleas in an area.

Just keep in mind that a severely infested house is going to continue to have fleas emerging from their cocoons for about a month.

Supposing that you have had 30 fleas coming out each day for two weeks and you have used no control, there would be about 400 fleas. So I wouldn't be surprised if on the first night you caught something like 300 fleas. Then 80 the next night .... after a week I suspect you'll be seeing 30 a night. And then the numbers will go up - because a lot of those 400 fleas will have laid eggs. After three weeks, the numbers will drop again, and after four weeks, the numbers will be near zero.

[Danaus29]

Yes, uncontrolled we would have one whale of a flea invasion. As long as the coon (or it's friends) remains there will be new fleas brought in daily too. The problem with using the lights is the wiring in the house is pretty questionable, especially to leave overnight. Maybe a battery powered light would work. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[farmergirl]

I like the tone of the article alot. Very conversational and informative, but not preachy. It has a matter-of-fact feel to it. I approve

[bill not in oh]

Paul I have a couple of questions....

If the lifespan of a flea is 2-4 weeks, and a flea lays 200 eggs a month, how can it lay 500 eggs during it's lifespan???




How many zeros in a skillion jillion?



Good article - I like your style of writing.

[Paul Wheaton]

Thanks for the kind words farmergirl.

Originally Posted by bill in oh

Paul I have a couple of questions....

If the lifespan of a flea is 2-4 weeks, and a flea lays 200 eggs a month, how can it lay 500 eggs during it's lifespan???

Good catch!

The egg-to-egg life cycle is two to four weeks!

I made the change.

Thanks!