ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Close Encounter of the Flea Kind

Updated on March 7, 2017

Many people have been bitten by the fleas, but only few have the chance to witness the fleas actually doing it. People find out only afterward by the telltale sign of a small red and itchy pimple on the skin, usually in the vicinity of the feet. The mark left by flea bite is not as bothersome as the mosquito sting and disappears after a few days. It becomes a problem when the quantity and occurrence increase. That is exactly what had happened to me. The following was my unforgettable and stressful encounter with the pesky fleas.

The Encounter

My past experience with the flea had been waking up one morning and finding a itchy red spot or two on the body mostly on the ankle area, occasionally, on the legs, thighs, or chest. Since the red spot did not get any bigger and went away in a few days, I never paid too much attention as to how I got it in the first place. Then, one hot summer day, everything changed. I woke up and found at least 10 red and itchy spots located randomly on both lower legs and feet. Since I went to see a movie the previous night, I concluded that they were caused by flea bites inside the theater auditorium as I was wearing only slipper without socks on my feet.

After several days, as some of the red spots had faded away, new ones popped up in the vicinity. I reasoned that they must be due to the same bites but with a delayed body reaction. After a week, as I was sitting in the living room, I happened to look at my bare feet and noticed a dark moving object about half the size of an ant. I reached down and touched with my finger. Before I could make contact, I saw the object jumped away and disappeared into the carpet. Immediately, I was alarmed to the fact that the carpet in the house was infected with the fleas.

The Catch

First, I vacuumed the whole house. Second, I started to pay close attention to my feet and lower part of my legs. Not long later, as I was walking in the back yard patio (not enclosed) , I noticed a stationary dark spot about twice the size of an ant on my left leg about 6” above the ankle. Right away, I moist the tips of my index and thumb fingers with saliva and snatched the dark object between the two finger tips. I then released it in a cup of Isopropyl alcohol laced water. To my surprise, I saw a still struggling flea floating in the water. I put it out of its misery to prevent it from jumping out of the cup of water. In the following two days and using the same techniques, I caught and killed around 30 fleas in the yard usually in the early morning. After that, I decided to spray the yard with the common household insecticide. The effect was drastic as I caught only two fleas in a week.

Inside the house, it was another story. As I did not want to use the insecticide on the carpet, I had to be alerted all the time to keep a close eye on my legs as well as body. I also had to be discreet before entering the house making sure that I did not bring in any flea. Overall, I caught about 5 fleas inside the house in a week. At the end of the 4th week, I no longer detected any flea anywhere and the red spots on my legs and body had all disappeared. I reckon that it will be a while before I let my guard down.

The Experience

From what I gather from the Internet, the tiny flea can jump a height of 7” and disappear into the surroundings in a flash. It needs to take blood from the other animals to survive. It seeks out its victim by vibrations and carbon dioxide emissions. The flea’s bite is just like that of the mosquito. The victim will not feel a thing. When the red spot is detected and the itch is felt, the flea has long gone. The only effective way to catch a flea on the body is to snatch it with the moist index and thumb finger tips. Do not try to look at it while it is still being pressed between the finger tips. Release it by dipping both finger tips into a cup of water laced with Isopropyl alcohol. A floating and struggling flea in the cup of water is the only evidence that a flea is successful trapped and terminated. If an area is found to be infested, the common household insecticide spray is effective in the flea’s eradication.

I have lived in the same house for many years and have no pets. I have no idea why, out of the blue, there was this flea infestation in the yard in that hot summer days.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)