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Blood suckers: Fleas pierce the skin, inject an anti-coagulant chemical into the bloodstream of the host to prevent blood clotting.
YUK but true: When fleas suck the blood from their host, some of the blood passes directly through their rectum in order to lay their eggs.
Tapeworms: A flea bite can cause acute irritation, infection and transfer of other parasites, including tapeworms. For irritable flea bites consult your pharmacist for an appropriate antiseptic cream or in more serious situations, your medical practitioner.
Dogs and cats: Fleas often enter a building on dogs and cats, and are commonly deposited in carpeted areas, in the garden, yard and under the building, particularly shaded sandy soil ares, on the southern side of the building (shaded areas).
Dormant in your carpets: In ideal hot humid weather, flea eggs may take only a few weeks to hatch in large numbers. In cooler times of the year, the flea eggs may lay dormant in carpets and subfloor areas for more than 12 months before hatching - generally during hot humid weather and all of a sudden, sometimes in plague proportions.
Summer holidays and you're the HOST: A uninhabited home that has been locked up for an extended period during hot humid weather, will act as an incubator for the dormant fleas to hatch in plague proportions. It is common-place for people who own a dog or cat, to return home from an extended summer vacation to find a house full of fleas.
