Fleas -
Minneapolis, MN

Fleas. None of us want to talk about them…the nasty little pests. We all have some experience with them, and it’s never pleasant. Fact is, there are over 2,000 species of fleas worldwide with many of them present here in good ol’ Minneapolis! Most of us think of our experiences with fleas and we start to itch. Fleas are known for their bite and the nuisance they create with their presence for us and our pets. Visions of little red bite marks and our dog or cat itching till they bleed are what we typically envision when we think of fleas but there is much more to know about the sophisticated little pest.

Fleas are wingless insects that are typically 1/16th to 1/8th of an inch in size. Fleas have an incredible ability to jump. Fleas are known to jump up to seven inches vertically, and 13 inches horizontally! If humans had flea jumping abilities, the average human would be able to jump 160 feet in the air! Fleas are typically a dark color and have “tube-like” mouth-parts that are made to feed on the blood of their host. Female adult fleas typically live only a year…but in that year they can produce up to 5,000 eggs!

Most of our experience with fleas in Minneapolis is with the family pet, cat or dog, picking up fleas and giving them a ride into our home. We sadly watch as Fido itches so much that his hair falls off and skin begins to bleed. While itching from flea bites is a normal reaction there are other issues with the presence of fleas. Fleas serve as a vector for a variety of bacterial, viral and rickettsial diseases to both humans and animals. Fleas are also known to pass along protozoans like certain types of tapeworms. At the mention of tapeworms, itching becomes a little less of an issue, don’t ya think?!

While control can be a challenge, it is very successful when done with an all-encompassing approach. The first step in control is finding where your pet spends the most time…most likely eating or sleeping. Once you have located the “hot-zone” for fleas, contact Rove Pest Control. Rove will send a Flea Specialist to your home to customize a prescription for solving your flea problem, both indoors and out. Identifying environmental issues along with the proper timing of treatments will result in elimination of current flea infestations and long term control of outbreaks. Contact Rove today!