Get Pests to Bug Off. Flea and Tick Tips for Pets and You

When the weather warms, the trees sprout new growth, flowers bloom and bugs begin their annual assault on humans and animals. Fleas and ticks thrive on warm weather, and these pests are most prevalent during times of rising temperatures. In North America, they can be a plague from March through October, depending upon how long temperatures stay moderate.

Fleas

There are over 2,000 described species of fleas in the world. The most common domestic flea is the cat flea, which despite its name, is found on both cats and dogs. According to the University of Florida, cat flea adults, unlike many other fleas, remain on their host. Females require a fresh blood meal in order to produce eggs, and they can lay up to one per hour. The smooth eggs easily fall from the pet onto the carpet, bedding, or lawn. The young fleas will hatch within two days and feed on dandruff, grain particles, and skin flakes found on the floor around them, in addition to the fecal matter provided by adult fleas, known as flea dirt. Fleas prefer to develop in areas protected from rainfall, irrigation, and sunlight, where the relative humidity is at least 75 percent and the temperature is 70 to 90 F.

Fleas are not picky about their meals and they'll nip at anything warm-blooded in their paths -- including people. Bites typically cause minor itching, but those with sensitive skin may have more irritation. Some fleas can carry disease, but contracting something from a flea is very rare. However, cat fleas can serve as intermediate hosts for canine tapeworms, putting dogs at risk.

Ticks

Ticks are another parasite that rarely show discrimination in their meal hosts. Unlike fleas, ticks are not insects but arachnids, like their cousins the spider and scorpion. Ticks will hop onto people and animals that cross their paths.

Female ticks need a blood meal to produce eggs. She will drop off after feeding to lay these eggs. To continue their life cycle ticks need humidity and shade. They prefer habitats of leaves, groundcover, weeds, and shady areas near woods and walls.

There are a variety of ticks as well (more than 200), most relatively innocuous except for the fact that they're unsightly bloodsuckers. However, the Deer tick and the Lone Star tick are two ticks that can cause serious illness. The Deer tick is a carrier for Lyme disease, an inflammatory disease that causes rash, muscle aches, and arthritis-type pain. The Lone Star tick carries Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, a rickettsial disease.

Safeguarding the Family from Fleas and Ticks

Treating pets alone against fleas is a relatively futile effort. Effective control requires eradication of fleas from the pet, the home, the yard, and control of the flea life cycle. There are a number of chemical products available that do a good job of ridding the home and yard of fleas. But there are also natural ways to simply make the environment less habitable for fleas.

* Shampoo your pet with a flea shampoo: Shampooing removes fleas, eggs and residual dandruff and flea dirt that larvae feed upon. Lather should remain on the pet for at least 15 minutes to be effective. Most shampoos contain Pyrethrins, which are derived from the chrysanthemum plant and kill fleas on the animal quickly.

* Vacuum frequently and thoroughly: Vacuuming removes eggs and fleas from carpeting and upholstery. Discard the vacuum bag immediately, however, as fleas can hatch inside of the bag.

* Light traps: It seems fleas are drawn toward light, especially when the light is broken by a shadow (simulating prey moving by). Fleas will jump toward the light. Sticky light traps can help control the numbers of fleas.

* Outdoors: Flea larvae develop in shaded, humid areas, but cannot survive in wet areas. Rainfall is often enough to stop larval development. The larvae will drown and the food provided by adult fleas is no longer available if the lawn is wet. Simply taking out the hose and wetting down the lawn and yard frequently can be all that's needed to rid the yard of fleas.

Ticks, too, prefer certain optimal conditions for growth. While you cannot rearrange your landscape completely to prevent ticks from invading your space, there are some steps to take. Here's what the experts at Lowes suggest:

* Buffer the property: Create a "buffer" zone around your lawn and garden, especially if you are near a wooded area. An area at least three feet wide should be between your lawn and the wooded area. Fill the area with a band of bark or stone mulch.

* Bright light: Ticks do not survive long in bright sunlight. Attempt to increase the amount of sunlight that reaches your lawn and yard.

* Fire up the lawnmower: Mow the lawn so that the grass does not get too tall.

* Be selective in greenery: Choose plants that do not attract deer, which are notable carriers of ticks.

A tick has barbed mouthparts that attach securely to a host. If you find a tick on yourself or a pet, remove the tick by pulling it out with tweezers. Attempt to get as close to the mouthparts as possible. Do not squeeze the tick while removing, as it could expel regurgitated blood and secretions into the wound. Remove the entire tick and then disinfect the bite area.