Under Pressure

Outdoor areas with little to no ground cover, crawlspaces with open entries and uncovered vents act like revolving doors for fleas. “[Fleas like] dark, secluded areas like carpeting under beds and spaces between the 90-degree angles where walls meet floors,” said Dennis Mastrolia, owner of Dennis the Mennis Pest Elimination Experts in Lynn, Mass.

Those are some of the stomping grounds fleas prefer. Of course, hanging out on dogs and cats is a biggie — and humans are hosts, too. “Most pets have run of the house, so thoroughness [of the inspection] is important,” Mastrolia added.

Mobile home refinishers are reporting flea issues in Texas, said Camille Landry, owner of FullScope Pest Services near Houston. “Mechanic shops where the bays are open — animals can come in and out,” she added.

And look down. Common to Landry’s area, pier and beam foundations consist of concrete and wooden support beams that support a home. The foundations are elevated, usually 2 feet off the ground. Critters like to hang out underneath, and they come with fleas.

“When technicians know this before they show up, that really helps,” Landry said. “In some cases, we’ll try to put an IGR underneath those cool, very damp and dark areas, and that has really seemed to control exterior populations.”

Garages are also a culprit. “People don’t think about the fact that their cat is walking through the garage, or they accidentally leave the door open at night,” Landry said, adding that this is how fleas often end up indoors: riding on the back of a four-footed family member.

Unruly lawn areas and leaf litter are also breeding grounds. Landry likes to see those cut back and cleaned up. “We communicate with customers and reinforce that they have to participate, otherwise we will struggle,” she said.

In general, Landry sees more flea pressure every year.

“After a couple mild winters, there is an influx, and in our area, there is so much land clearing and construction that they are pushing wildlife into developed backyards,” she said. “So now, animals that used to live in the woods are visiting yards, and we relied too heavily on [treating fleas] on our dogs and cats.”

The majority of flea work is residential service. “Rarely do we get a storefront with a flea issue,” said Chad Highley, president, Environmental Pest Control, Lawton, Okla. “Usually, it’s a residential structure, either individually owned or managed.”

In fact, the company manages pest services for several kennels and veterinarian offices. “We rarely hear anything about fleas in those,” he said.

Meanwhile, timing is also of the essence when it comes to flea pressure, as with most pests.

“During late spring, we see a high volume of fleas and it also peaks in late summer,” Highley said. “I think it’s primarily based on the rodent traffic times — whether they are moving out of their overwintering spots to find harborage and breeding grounds, or in late summer when they are getting ready for winter, so they are on the move looking for a spot. It’s often about rodents coming or going from their winter hangouts.”

For this reason, nearly all of Highley’s flea service calls include rodent or wildlife control. “The two are very closely interrelated,” he said.

Doug Foster notices a tie between vacation time and flea calls. “A lot of people do not take their pets with them on trips, so if they take them to a boarding center, they can have some fleas and end up bringing them home,” said the president of Burt’s Termite & Pest Control, Columbus, Ind.

Or there is already a light case of fleas at home, a pet is boarded and the family waits a couple days after vacation to pick up their fur friend.

“As long as the pets are there, the fleas are content — but when it is not there, they are still hungry, so all of the sudden, the people in the house are dinner,” Foster said.

Temperature is a factor, too.

“Over the last few years, as the temperatures have warmed up across the country as a whole, we’ve been seeing fleas come out as early as March and hanging around sometimes through December,” said Jim Regan, technical advisor, Cowleys Pest Services, Farmingdale, N.J. Reflecting back to the early 2000s, fleas were biting in April and calmed in late October, he said.

“When the temperature hits in the 70s, that’s when the fleas begin to take off,” Regan said. “The humidity is just right. And once the temperatures drop into the 40s, the fleas die off.”

Regan also notices that properties located on sandy soils tend to present with more flea issues, at least along the Jersey coast. “The shore towns are usually hit very heavy for us,” he said.

Landry says flea work makes up about 8 percent of service tickets at her company, and it’s a year-round business. “There’s not much of a lull,” she said, adding that nearly all calls come from homeowners and many of them property management companies. Given the warmer-weather location, it’s always “the time” for pests, including fleas.

So, Landry works to get customers into a prevention mindset. “That way, we don’t have to deal with a horrible infestation where everyone in the house is getting bitten.”