getting mobbed by fleas

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the last week, every time i go outside i am mass-attacked by fleas. grass, concrete patio, garage floor, doesn't matter - i feel this tickling sensation on my ankles, and it's as if my ankles have been sprinkled with pepper, little black flecks all over, relentlessly scrambling up toward my calf, my knee, my thigh... no, let's not go there. i admit i take a certain perverse pleasure in killing them, crushing their little carapaces under my thumb, rolling them against my leg. i am reminded of an american indian expression they used when referring to early encounters with the white man. they would talk about "rubbing them out" as if the intruders, few in number at first, were simply an irritant and could be easily wiped out.
but like the white man, the few are followed by the many, waves of them, trainloads, and it then reminds me of accounts from the korean war when american soldiers would have to repel human wave attacks of chinese and north koreans, blazing away until their ammunition, like my patience, is exhausted. then i call in air support, aerosol in fact, and spray the little bloodsuckers down with bug killer. even then, in the relative safety of the inside, i occasionally find one crawling on my arms or, horror of horrors, in my eyebrow. i'm not sleeping well, waking up in the middle of the night feeling (or is it imagining) that tickling, itchy sensation that might be an errant flea
we're having a cool spell, but it was hot, very hot for about 2 weeks in late june, and dry, very dry. the dog simply refuses to go outside (can't really say i blame him) and there have been accidents. i spread diatomaceous earth in the yard and have bug-bombed the garage which yields minimal temporary relief, and dabbed the cats and dog with sergeants and other more expensive flea-killers, but i suspect the fleas are becoming resistant. it's hell, i tell ya.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: getting mobbed by fleas

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Down here, this time of year is also Hell when it comes to fleas. We doused the house with the conventional munitions, but eventually had to call in the professionals to nuke it from orbit. It was the only way to be sure. It took two visits. One to treat the issue and "sterilize" that were already here, then they came back a week later to mop up the stragglers.
Last edited by atxgunguy on Tue Jul 10, 2018 12:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
LGC Texas - Vice President

Re: getting mobbed by fleas

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I remember the fleas when I lives in Texas, got pretty bad one year. The folks at the apartment complex waged war on them for a few weeks bombing and spraying.

Your basic flea warrior isn't too smart, you can blow off a limb and they're still 86% combat effective.
Here's a tip, aim for the nerve stem...and put it down for good!
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.

Re: getting mobbed by fleas

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Been there- tried the diatomaceous earth to exactly no effect. Wound up getting a bottle of this stuff:
https://www.amazon.com/36-8-Permethrin- ... B003IMO3I2

It's a concentrate, and now a couple of times a year I spray problem areas (yard, around the house, etc.) and no more flea outbreaks. Keep the furballs inside or away from it while you're spraying of course. It acts as a suppressant as well as killing the little bastards. I dislike spraying chemicals unless it's necessary, but sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do. Good luck man
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
- Maya Angelou

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Re: getting mobbed by fleas

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http://www.wired.co.uk/article/elon-mus ... ng-company

Unless you can handle insecticide out there, pray the frosts come early--other than the flame thrower or poisons, frost works.

Here's the old hippie option:
Another measure I’m going to try is nematodes. These are tiny worm like critters that feed on the flea larvae and eggs. They’re just a tiny little worm. I did read that you have to get the “beneficial” nematodes, “regular” nematodes can cause heart worm in our pets.
https://fleasbgone.org/fleas-natural-predator

I think using a 1911 would be fun, expensive, and would make the neighbors talk to the cops. So, nah.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: getting mobbed by fleas

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shinzen wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 10:07 am Been there- tried the diatomaceous earth to exactly no effect. Wound up getting a bottle of this stuff:
https://www.amazon.com/36-8-Permethrin- ... B003IMO3I2

It's a concentrate, and now a couple of times a year I spray problem areas (yard, around the house, etc.) and no more flea outbreaks. Keep the furballs inside or away from it while you're spraying of course. It acts as a suppressant as well as killing the little bastards. I dislike spraying chemicals unless it's necessary, but sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do. Good luck man
Stumbled on this article a few days ago about permethrin.
...a pesticide that's chemically similar to extracts of the flowering chrysanthemum plant.
Back in the 1980s, the U.S. military conducted several tests on a synthetic version of the plant-derived pesticide. When it was shown to be effective in preventing the bites of insects and ticks, the military began to purchase uniforms for soldiers that are factory-treated with permethrin.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-sho ... -from-mums
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: getting mobbed by fleas

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It's been a bad year, and the bastards find our poor little dog delicious. I'd been enjoying crushing their little bodies between my thumbnail and the flea comb, but there were just too damn many of 'em and they were making her anemic. When the OTC topical flea meds failed after a week or so, we took her to the vet and got some systemic stuff that makes her poisonous to them. They bite her, they die. Yeah, there's probably a down side, but not itching like mad and having to chew fleas is a quality of life issue that probably makes it worth the risk.
Last edited by SwampGrouch on Tue Jul 10, 2018 10:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"There never was a union of church and state which did not bring serious evils to religion."
The Right Reverend John England, first Roman Catholic Bishop of Charleston SC, 1825.

Re: getting mobbed by fleas

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so i'm not alone. not that i wish this aggravation on anyone, but i'm glad to learn that i'm not imagining this, not alone or blowing a minor thing out of proportion. i bought a bag of sevin dust pellets today, i've used sevin before to good effect, will decipher the directions (something about watering it in, but try not to get it in a body of water or risk killing aquatic invertebrates) tonight and try to get it spread tomorrow.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: getting mobbed by fleas

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highdesert wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 11:45 am
Stumbled on this article a few days ago about permethrin.
...a pesticide that's chemically similar to extracts of the flowering chrysanthemum plant.
Back in the 1980s, the U.S. military conducted several tests on a synthetic version of the plant-derived pesticide. When it was shown to be effective in preventing the bites of insects and ticks, the military began to purchase uniforms for soldiers that are factory-treated with permethrin.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-sho ... -from-mums
Yep- the fact that it is safe enough to dip clothes into is what sold me on it as well.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
- Maya Angelou

Image

Re: getting mobbed by fleas

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We used to spray the yard with permethrin and it worked well. Often needed a second application to get eggs that hatch after spraying. It was a liquid you could mix in a hose sprayer and just spray the whole yard.

If you have them in the house, look up a product called Fleabusters. Easy to use and super effective. Pet safe and no need to bomb with chemicals. If you have pets, I can get product recommendations from my wife (she was a vet tech for 10 years).

Diatomaceous earth won't do crap for fleas. I love the stuff and we've used it in the past in a lot of different ways, but it's ineffective in controlling fleas.

Re: getting mobbed by fleas

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The last two years have been horrible for cat fleas in my little world. Monthly drops of 'pet armor' plus (not so) quality time in the shower with that happy bottle of 'kitty bubbles' still couldn't keep the critters under control. Last winter, though, we finally had a hard freeze and so far (knock wood...and the side of my head) 'the mighty huntress' seems to be free of mini vampires. I feel for the folks having a hard time this summer. :(

Re: getting mobbed by fleas

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here it is almost a year later, and they're back, sorta. mostly in the shady parts of the back yard. bought some granular stuff to kill the little bloodsuckers, will mix it in with the grass seed i was going to spread over the yard.
Last edited by lurker on Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: getting mobbed by fleas

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senorgrand wrote: Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:25 pm flee collars on your ankles. ;)
so i can flee from the fleas! (i always appreciate a good pun) actually not a bad idea. we bought some herbal flea collars at petsmart last week which seem to keep them down on the animals, but they're out of stock, expecting more on friday.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: getting mobbed by fleas

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Welcome to a changing climate. We didn't get a hard freeze last winter and ticks are everywhere this year. Our little dog brings in at least two a day.

As climate zones shift to the north, we'll get new vectors and diseases. There is a special place in hell for blood suckers. And climate change deniers.

Re: getting mobbed by fleas

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Last year, we had a real problem. The drops along the dogs back stopped working. My vet recommended Soresto dog collar . Pricy, but it works. The big yard at our dog park was underwater for about 2 months this year, so if it opens, fleas shouldn't be a problem there for a while/ Mud, but no insects. The remaining deep pools of water smell interesting, so the dogs have acquired a need to swim and roll in them.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
- Ronald Reagan

Re: getting mobbed by fleas

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This summer we have 5 dogs and a cat in the house. All small dogs, so managable but with two toddlers and 3 adults besides, we got no room for the kind of fight we had last year to control fleas, and only mamanged to hold numbers down to tolerable levels. At the start of May I scoured Ebay, figured out who was selling actual Soresto collars vs the scam artists, and got them for less than $40 each - for every critter in the house. And we haven't had to do a thing more. Also took three dogs into the Blue Ridge and nobody got a tick, although other dogs at the AirBnB did.
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