How To Get Rid Of Fleas In Your Yard

As a pet owner, there is every likelihood that fleas are a constant sight in your home and in distension your yard. These little, teeny critters thrive on the blood of your cats and dogs and may extend their parasitic behavior to humans themselves if the opportunity arises. Knowing the strategies to adopt towards getting rid of fleas in your yard would keep these icky pests away, saving your family of their constant bother. Strategies to Adopt Towards Identifying Fleas You will need to identify these fleas before elaborate measures are taken to rid them off your property.

• Inspect Your Pets For Fleas:Pets provide one of the best clues in identifying a budding flea infestation. In many cases, these pets become restless and edgy, adopting behavioral patterns they are unlike them. Your dog may start jumping around unnecessarily, your cat may start boring deeply into its furs, thereby hurting itself. These pests generally become very uncomfortable. The fleas are piercing through their skins and depriving them of blood. In very extreme conditions of fleas, this can cause of the anemia that is likely to follow if further steps are not taken to eradicate these fleas.To proceed with inspecting your fleas, you will need the following: Flea comb and a bowl of hot, soapy water/bleach solution.

• Check For Signs Of Hair Loss:Flea infested pets normally lose their hair rapidly. This condition is otherwise known as alopecia. It can be caused by fleas or mites, but fleas are a major culprit. This condition can lead toextreme hair loss and skin crusting. One red flag to watch out for is a situation whereby your pets now prefer staying on their own and licking themselves. Make sure you treat your pets with a flea spray that is labeled for application to pets.
• Inspect Your Home:Asides being found on your pet's skin, fleas can also be found hopping around your home. They may choose carefully hidden spots in the house such as:

1. 1. Pet bedding and crates - Examine your pet's bedding or crates or any area where they may choose to lie around and sleep. In conducting your search, look out for live fleas, flea first or their eggs/larvae.
   2. Upholstered furniture - All upholstered furniture in the house should be inspected. Your pets may choose this furniture to lay down. So, if any evidence of their presence is found, such as the fleas or their feces, it means there is a growing infestation not far off.
   3. Carpets and Rugs - You can search through your rugs and carpets for signs of fleas. You can conduct your search using socks and flashlights. The fleas are going to stick more readily to your socks due to its hairy surface. If there is a wooden floor beneath your rugs or carpets, lift them up and search thoroughly.
   4. Use a Flea Control product that is labeled for use on carpets and pet areas.

• Inspect Your Yard:There is a good chance your pets might have picked up the flea from your yard while outdoors. These pets love being outdoors, and so are more readily prone to picking up these fleas. To conduct your search, you need flashlights, socks and some pairs of shoes. Shuffle through areas such as under and around trees, around dead leaf debris, around decks and patios, or anywhere else your pets spend their time playing around.

• Flea spray: This is one of the effective ways to treat your yard of a flea infestation. Buy an effective pesticide or insecticide that is known to to be potent enough. Start spraying in areas where you identified the fleas during your search, they will be typically in the shadier areas.Pyriproxyfen is one insect growth regulator that works very well against fleas. According to Dr Philip Koehler, a professor at the University of Florida, experiments conducted by his team of researchers found out that pyriproxyfen prevented fleas from developing into their adult stage for up to seven months. Nature itself can help in preventing fleas. Direct sunlight kills flea larvae, so, there is no need spraying the whole yard with insecticide.

• Nematodes: Nature once again is proving effective in helping us eradicate fleas. Nematodes are worm-like creatures that inhabit the soil. The pupae, larvae and pre-adult stages of these fleas serve as food for these nematodes. It is a non-toxic, efficient and safe way of controlling pests in our yards. These nematodes can be obtained at your local pest control centres. Once you get them, just mix with water and spray around your lawn.

• Diatomaceous earth: Diatomaceous earth is a naturally occurring sedimentary rock that is crushed into a fine powder. They actually remain of diatoms - micro-algae found in the soils, oceans and other water bodies of the world. They can be used to get rid of fleas, bed bugs and other parasitic household insects. It works by gradually ridding these fleas of their exoskeletons, a sure way of dehydrating the fleas and leaving them to die off.

• Critter-control: Wild animals such as rabbits, raccoons, rats or squirrels are carrier vehicles for fleas. Adopt measures to prevent these animals from accessing your yard. You may need to install critter-proof barriers, fences and other mechanisms to help you achieve this.

• Sanitation Exercise: A thorough clean up exercise has been known to solve lots of pests problems in our yards. A cleanup exercise removes overgrown weeds, dead leaves, and other decayed debris that serve as a home for fleas and other dangerous insects. Once a week conduct a cleanup exercise around your home and its environs and you're sure to have a home free of not just fleas, but other worrisome pests.
• Use Lemon or Cedar chips: Lemon and cedar chips are also very effective against fleas. Cut one or two lemons. Boil into a solution, allow to simmer and then transfer the liquid into a spray can. Spray this solution around your yard. Fleas hate the scent emanating from this lemon solution. Soon they will all scamper away.

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