 Backyard Farming in the River Valley Podcast
May 11, 2010
Fleas (4:42 minutes)
(4 minutes:
42 seconds)
WMV (high speed video)
Audio/Video Script:
Dustin Blakey, County Extension Agent – Staff Chair
Jesse Bocksnick, County Extension Agent – 4-H
[Title slide - Backyard Farming in the River Valley with Dustin Blakey and
Jesse Bocksnick. Fleas. University of Arkansas Division of
Agriculture. Drawing of a person carrying a basket of apples in an apple
orchard.]
[Dustin] A common concern of homeowners, especially those with pets, is fleas. Hi,
this is Dustin Blakey with the Sebastian County Extension Office. Today we’re
going to talk a little bit about flea control at home.
Fleas are small insects notorious for their ability to jump; however, just
because you notice small insects jumping around the house, it doesn’t
necessarily mean that you have fleas. There are other insects that have similar
habits. For instance in springtime, the most common of these are springtails
which are harmless. [Picture of a springtail insect]
[Picture closeup of a pet's hair parted showing flea feces on the skin] The best sign that you have a flea infestation is the observation of fleas or
flea feces on your pet and the accompanying dermatitis caused from their
relentless feeding.
[Dustin] The first step in controlling fleas is to understand a little bit about your
enemy. While there are roughly 2,000 species of creatures that we call
fleas, most flea complaints that humans have are associated with just a few species. The most
common flea on dogs and cats is the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis.
[Video shows a small dog on it's back rubbing around on the floor] When an adult cat flea finds a suitable host, barring some bad luck, it will
spend its entire life on that animal. The flea will bite the host and take a
blood meal. [Picture of a flea] About a day and a half later a female will lay her eggs. Along with
the blood she ingests, a fair amount of incompletely digested blood will be
released in the flea’s feces. [Picture of pet hair that has been trimmed off the
pet with flea feces] This and the eggs will then fall off the host.
[Drawing of flea larva, 1 millimeter in length] In a few days, these eggs will hatch out. Only a very small portion of the
thousands of eggs produced in a flea’s lifetime will hatch. This is because
these eggs require a warm, humid place to mature, and most will end up
elsewhere. [Picture of a dog in a dog house] Carpets, dog houses, and bedding are all excellent locations to hatch
from a young flea’s perspective.
[Picture of flea larvae] The larvae that hatch out of the egg will feed for about a week on organic
matter and dried feces of the adult. [Picture of flea cocoons] They will then spin an indestructible
cocoon in which they will transform into an adult. This phase of their life can
take anywhere 1 to 2 weeks in ideal conditions. Pupae wait for environmental
cues to emerge from their cocoon. [Video of two puppies] These conditions are usually associated with
the presence of an animal. Things like vibration, temperature and pressure can
stimulate adult emergence.
[Dustin] If there is no stimulation, for example when you are on vacation, the pupae
can lay dormant for up to 4 months waiting. This is why a flea problem can seem
bad, even after you have been gone for a while.
[Picture of an adult flea] The adults that emerge will jump on a host and begin the cycle anew.
[Dustin] Now that you understand this, we can talk about control. The only way to get
good control of fleas is an integrated approach using many different techniques.
If you don’t tackle it in every direction at once, you will not achieve control.
[Video if Dustin vacuuming] First, you need to clean up the existing fleas in problem “hot spots”. In the
house, vacuum thoroughly. I suggest you throw out the bag after doing this.
[Video of small dog being given a bath] Cleaning up and removing fleas is critical for good control. Outdoors, you can
use a labeled pesticide. There are several to choose from and are widely
available.
One of the best control measures we have is the Insect Growth Regulator or
IGR. [Diagram showing life cycle of flea, adult, egg, larvae, pupa, and circling
back to adult. IGRs stop the lifecycle at the larvae stage] IGRs are very safe pesticides that interfere with the maturity of insects,
essentially blocking the life cycle. You can easily find powders to treat carpet
with that contain IGRs. [Slide - Common IGRS for carpets: Methoprene and
Pyriproxifen] In these parts, I usually see ones containing Methoprene.
It works well, but be sure to follow the directions on the label.
[Video of someone vacuuming] You will need to continue vacuuming frequently for the next 2 weeks to catch
any pupae that have not emerged.
In addition to treating the premises and vacuuming, you will need to treat
your pets. [Picture of a dog being examined by a veterinarian] I suggest you discuss control options with your
veterinarian.
Herbal remedies and vitamins have not been shown to be effective in
university trials. [Picture of an ultrasonic pest repeller] Ultrasonic repellers are also ineffective as fleas cannot
perceive sound waves. These devices can irritate your pets ears, which I’m sure
is not your plan.
[Slide - The secret to flea control: diligence!] All-in-all the key to flea control is diligence. All control methods need to
be applied at the same time and according to directions to be successful.
[Dustin] If you have questions about fleas or other insects, please contact your
county Extension office. [U of A University of
Arkansas Division of Agriculture]
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