Fleas are small, jumping insects that harass life for pets and humans alike and are more than just an annoyance. They are known to be vectors for diseases, instigate allergic reactions, and their biting behavior drives one mad with their itchy results.
But where, really, do these little pests come from, and what exactly draws them into your home and to your pets? In this blog post, we're diving deep into the flea world.
1. Natural Environments
Fleas naturally inhabit a variety of habitats. Fleas typically find good support for their population in forests and grasslands due to the high host population and the moist conditions prevalent, which favor hatching flea eggs.
Fleas commonly inhabit wild animals such as squirrels, wild rabbits, deer, and rodents. When these wild animals come into yards or landscape areas, fleas and even flea eggs are deposited. If your pet goes into these areas, they will get flea infestations.
Other common carriers of fleas are wildlife and rodents. All these are flea hotels. They house the fleas and provide them with habitat and food. That is not all; they get an environment where they can multiply and swell their numbers. Whenever wild animals access your yard or house, they tag fleas along.
For example, a stray cat might wander through your yard, leaving flea eggs that hatch and infest your yard and, subsequently, your pets.
3. Flea Eggs and Larvae
One of the biggest problems with fleas is that they are quite hard to identify in their early stages. It is quite a fact that flea infestations result from eggs and not from the easily noticed adult counterparts.
These critters hide in the places one would not expect, and at times flea eggs can fall off their hosts and land in the carpets, bedding, cracks in floors, and even in your yard. These eggs can remain dormant for a week to several months until the larvae mature.
4. Previous Infestations
Fleas, as we all know, can live and multiply with great rapidity. Thus, if you have ever been visited by this pest, it is almost certain that its ova or larval forms can still be found in your house.
Fleas' ova can remain in a dormant state for several months; therefore, under appropriate conditions, a new outbreak may suddenly appear. This is why it’s essential to thoroughly treat your home, yard, and pets after a flea infestation to ensure that you’ve eliminated all stages of the flea life cycle.
However, fleas can be easily transmitted through other animals they meet, for example, in the park, grooming salon, and boarding homes. It can travel at a very rapid rate of speed and jump from one pet to another in the blink of an eye.
After the infected flea has transferred to a new host, it will proceed to feed and lay eggs, resulting in infestation once more. Routine flea prevention becomes important in cases of frequent contact of an animal with other animals.
6. Human Activity
It might sound surprising, but humans can also introduce fleas. Fleas could jump on your clothes or shoes while you are outside and hitch a ride into the inside of your house. This is especially common if you've been where wildlife or stray animals are considered to have been.
Fleas might also gain entry into your household when you pick up used furniture or rugs that have been infested with fleas. If you must take any second-hand item, it is best to observe it for indications of fleas first before taking it inside your house.
7. Through Travel
Fleas know no boundaries. It's a local bane; and because they are hitchhikers, they travel with you. When you go for a vacation, take your pets along, or even just stay in places infested with fleas, your pet will get infested and bring the fleas back home.
Travelers should always be on the lookout for fleas in hotels, rental properties, and other temporary accommodations. Always treat your pets with flea-prevention products well before traveling.
Your pets lay their eggs in bedding and beds. It's the warmest place and smells like the pet in its bed which is perfect for fleas. So, if a pet tends to spend much of its time in a settled location, ensure that place is included in your cleaning routine to avoid hosting fleas.
Washing pet bedding in hot water and heating-flea-treating your pet's favorite resting places can go a long way in breaking the flea life cycle and leaving your home without fleas.
9. Unkempt Yards
An unkempt lawn can offer refuge to fleas. Tall grass and dense vegetation offer resting and hiding places for fleas and their wild hosts. These fleas can very easily make their way from your yard into your home, especially if your pets spend time outdoors.
Yard maintenance is very key to preventing flea infestation. Regularly mow the lawn and trim bushes. Disposing of loose yard debris can help in minimizing the chances of fleas infesting your outdoor spaces.
10. Seasonal Factors
Fleas thrive in warm and moist conditions. This is why more flea presence appears to be noticed by human environments during the spring and summer months. Opening windows or doors allows these parasites to proliferate throughout the year inside, so even with central heating and controlled building environments, these parasites flourish.
Knowledge of such seasonal factors, which favor flea attacks, may help you be a step ahead of protecting pets. Precautions should be taken before flea numbers shoot up.
Being parasitic insects, fleas depend on blood for survival. Blood is the most important material that can attract fleas. It harbors nutrients that will enable them to flourish, grow, and reproduce. Of all the warm-blooded animals, fleas normally consider cats and dogs as their good hosts.
Fleas are armed with piercing skin and sucking mouthparts in such a way that they pierce the skin of its warm-blooded host so it can suck its blood. Once they land on a suitable host, they can try to ingest several times their body weight in blood.
2. Body Heat
Another important factor that these fleas are attracted to is the body heat. Fleas thrive best in warm-blooded animals because the body temperature of warm-blooded animals provides a conducive environment for flea activities. If it senses the warmth emanating from a potential host, then it will surely hop and cling to it.
That is why one observes major populations of fleas on such animals, especially pets with thick skin. Not only does the warmth attract fleas, but it also gives them room to lay eggs and multiply, accelerating the process of infestation.
3. Carbon Dioxide
Carbon dioxide is another major attractant of fleas. Whenever animals or humans breathe, they give out carbon dioxide, which the fleas can tell from a distance. This acts like a homing beacon, guiding them in search of their next blood meal.
Fleas are quite sensitive to any elevation in CO2 levels, and if they sense the rise, it indicates the presence of a warm-blooded host. This is why most of the fleas can be found where the pets sleep or rest because those places have high CO2 levels.
4. Movement and Vibration
Fleas are also attracted by movement and vibration. Wiggling of either humans or pets is a source of vibration for fleas, mostly to indicate the presence of an approaching host. This explains why a person or a pet on the move in a host-bothered place is very likely to face several fleas on them.
The movement triggers the fleas to jump onto their new host in search of a meal. They also become attracted to the vibrations made during walking, running, or even slight tremors from a resting animal. The sensitivity to movement and vibration makes it difficult to avoid fleas once they are present in an environment.
Fleas become attracted to pet dander, consisting of dead skin cells that the pets naturally exfoliate. Of course, fleas are mostly attracted to pets that have dense fur with plenty of dander as a source of nutritional value; obviously, dander feeds the larva.
The natural oils and dander on your pet's skin make it easier for fleas to find and latch onto them. Once a host is found, fleas can hide in the fur, obtain food by biting, and then lay eggs. Grooming your pet regularly and bathing them can reduce the amount of dander on your pet and make them less attractive to fleas.
6. Dark Environment
Fleas tend to frequent isolated locations where darkness abounds, such as where they will be able to escape from view and secrete their eggs. This may include your pet's fur and under furniture, as well as in the various cracks and crevices around your home.
Fleas will find and stay in any dark and cluttered spaces. These spaces are their breeding grounds. So, if there are dark spaces in your house along with some clutter, chances are fleas may infest those places, as they can live and breed in these places.
7. Warm and Humid Conditions
Fleas are more active in warm and humid conditions; this explains the reason behind their flourishing during summer months or in high-humidity regions. In such a case, the conditions become very feasible for the multiplication of fleas since warmth increases the rate of the flea life cycle while humidity prevents the drying out of eggs and larvae.
An analogous effect can be observed on a smaller scale inside a house that maintains warm, humid environments through heating, especially in winter. In this case, keeping your indoor environment cool and dehumidified should help in realizing reduced activities of fleas. Use dehumidifiers and keep your house well-ventilated.
8. Outdoor Litter and Leaf Litter
Fleas prefer to stay outdoors in litter and leaf litter environments in the open air. These are hiding places not only for fleas but also for their wild hosts such as rodents and other smaller mammals. Domestic animals that walk around in the grass/litter environments often bring fleas back inside.
Fleas will easily burrow into the cool, moist, and shaded areas that are created by leaf litter and debris and be able to avoid eradication once they have invaded. Proper yard maintenance can reduce the risk of infestation.
Though the fleas do not feed on the pet food, the presence of food may attract other pests such as rodents, which harbor fleas. In the same way, excretion from pets will attract flies and other insects, which may also be carrier insects for fleas.
When these insects find bearing in the setting, they can then introduce the fleas to your home and pets. Keeping the food area clean, and along with it the proper disposal of wastes, avoids the infestation of fleas and other unwanted guests.
10. Human Interaction: Odor and Sweat
These fleas may also be attracted to humans by the occurrence of odor and sweat. While fleas prefer an animal host, they will bite humans when infestations are heavy or when other hosts are not available.
They detect warmth and body odors. Natural oils and moisture on a person's skin can also be a signal to a flea that a blood meal is near. Generally, persons more likely to be outside or engaging in physical activity appear more attractive to fleas because there is usually increased body heat and moisture from sweating.
11. Clutter and Filth
Clutter and uncleaned spaces provide favorable conditions for fleas to grow. Cluttering gives them a myriad of hiding spaces while dust, pet hair, and dirt or debris provide a perfect scenario for laying eggs and swarming. Keeping a clean and organized living space can help reduce the likelihood of fleas making their home in your house.
This can be done in many ways, including regular vacuuming, washing of pet bedding, and reduction of clutter that allows flea hosts to make your home their home. Keeping living spaces neat and free of debris can reduce both the number of hiding places and breeding areas for fleas.
12. Wild Animals
Feral cats, rodents, and raccoons are common carriers of fleas. Such animals can introduce fleas to your yard or home as they look for food or even seek shelter. In the case that the fleas establish themselves, the organisms spread quickly over the pets and living areas.
To allow the possibility of penetration by fleas, it is appropriate that animals be prevented from entering one's property. This will be through securing the trash cans, denying them food, and sealing the entry points through which the wild animals use to gain entrance into your house; hence, fleas will not be transported into the house.
Pet beddings are most preferred by fleas as they provide a warm, soft, and cozy environment in which the fleas can hide and lay their eggs. Reasonably, fleas ideally find habitat in the bedding of pets; the reason is the absorption of body heat along with dander from the animals.
This makes a very appropriate environment for them to thrive. If you do not clean your pet's bedding regularly, this can easily breed fleas. Fleas can be kept away by washing pet bedding in hot water at least once every week and using sprays or treatments that keep fleas away from the bedding.
14. Carpeting and Rugs
Careful consideration should be taken with carpeting and rugs. Fleas will fester in such home elements if not vacuumed or cleaned regularly. The fibers in both elements make the best hiding place and pocket to lay eggs and morph into the infestations of the future.
Fleas are attracted to the warmth and darkness in carpets and rugs; hence, such places become favorite spots for flea activity. Regular vacuuming is important to suck fleas, the vacuuming of eggs, and larvae in carpets and rugs.
Apart from these, the soft furnishings in the form of sofas, cushions, and curtains also attract the fleas. Like carpets, these items of furniture provide a warm, shady location in which fleas will hide and lay their eggs.
The fleas are attracted by the fabric and the heat it retains, hence lay their eggs in soft furnishings—a sure way of having a flea infestation. Vacuum your soft furnishings all around regularly, and wash removable covers in hot water to minimize the chances of fleas taking up residence in your house.
What Smell Do Fleas Hate?
There are strong odors that humans can use to repel fleas. Several smells that fleas detest include the following:
Cedarwood: The oil of cedarwood is abhorrent to fleas; hence, cedarwood acts as a great natural repellent. You can use chips of cedar or oil of cedarwood in places that may be infested with these annoying insects.
Lavender Oil: While the smell of lavender is soothing for humans, it turns out that it is repulsive to fleas. What this means is that with lavender oil in sprays or added to pet bedding, those unwanted guests will be kept at bay.
Eucalyptus: Fleas abhor this sharp, medicinal smell. A few additions to a house or yard with eucalyptus oil, and they'll be kept away.
Peppermint: This herb, which is very powerful with its menthol smell, is another repellant of fleas. Either of peppermint oil or leaves applied to any areas they might thrive will drive away flea growth.
Use of Soapy Water
To kill fleas in large numbers, while addressing the common concerns of where fleas come from and what they do, you can use a simple, non-toxic method. Fleas, which can come from various sources such as pets, outdoor areas, or even wild animals, are often located in warm, humid environments and can quickly spread throughout your home.
These pests, known for biting and feeding on blood, are attracted to light and movement. Set up flea traps by filling shallow dishes with water and adding a few drops of dish soap. This breaks the water's surface tension, making it impossible for fleas to escape.
What To Do?
Position a light source, like a lamp, above the dish to attract fleas, and place the traps near areas where fleas are most active, such as pet bedding, carpets, or other spots where fleas are located.
Leave the traps overnight, and by morning, you should find many fleas drowned in the soapy water. Repeat nightly to significantly reduce flea populations in your home.
If you're dealing with a severe flea infestation and wondering where fleas come from, where do fleas come from, or where does a flea come from, calling professional pest control is often the best solution.
Fleas can come from pets, outdoor areas, or even wild animals, and knowing where fleas are located in your home is crucial for effective treatment. Professionals understand what fleas do, how they reproduce, and how to get fleas out of your environment safely and effectively.
