Take a look outside your back door. It looks pretty innocent out there, doesn’t it?
We hate to break it to you but your sweet and happy-looking backyard can be a local rental for fleas, and you might not even know it.
There’s not much worse than spotting those jumping black dots on your dog’s fur or your favorite living room chair.
These small but mighty pests may seem tiny and tame, but they carry quite a big potential for problems, including typhus and plague.
And your backyard can be a haven for them. If you have pets that go outdoors, when they come inside, they can bring fleas in. Noone wants that.
Time to get rid of these nasty pests. But how do you get rid of fleas in your yard?
Here are some tips for controlling fleas in your Prince William County yard and choosing the right pest control company for the job.
Top Facts About Fleas In Your Yard
Fleas are those pesky, wingless insects with long, flat bodies that feed on blood. For food sources, they like pets – cats and dogs, mainly – wild animals, and human beings.
Let’s look at signs of flea infestations, list where they hang out in your yard and review how to get rid of fleas in your yard.
What Are Fleas?
Fleas are parasitic insects that feed off of the blood of birds and mammals.
While they are small, they actually need quite a bit of food to survive. They can consume 15 times their own body weight in blood.
Fleas on cats are the most common ones found in homes, though dog fleas aren’t far behind. Fleas can also infect your pet rabbits, wild rabbits, or squirrels in your yard. They will even feed on humans. In fact, fleas can be found traveling on raccoons, mice, rats, foxes, opossums, ferrets, and most of the wild animals that travel through your landscape.
Fleas can take long breaks between meals, too, so it’s not like they’ll just disappear if food is unavailable. Unfortunately, they have the ability to wait it out until food returns. This is why treatment for fleas in your yard is important because you don’t want them taking up residence in your home and lingering there for long periods of time.
Fleas are quite difficult to see – one to 2.5 millimeters in length. This means they can easily hide in pet beds, carpets, furniture, and mattresses.
Fleas are great jumpers, so they can move fast once you find them. When we say great jumpers, we mean about 8 inches horizontally and 5 inches vertically for cat fleas.
And once fleas get inside, they can become quite a nuisance. Fleas can live more than three months, during which females can produce 500 babies. That’s a lot of fleas.
How To Know If You Have Fleas In Your Yard and Home
Fleas can be very hard to spot in your yard. In fact, you may not even realize you have a problem until it’s too late.
Before you think about how to get rid of fleas in your yard, let’s look at how they get there in the first place.
They can travel in through your pets. They are outside often and can be exposed to other animals with fleas, as well as the nearby environments that harbor fleas.
Then, fleas hijack rides on your pets’ tails, in their undercoats, or in their topcoats. It’s easy to pick up fleas just by walking and playing on your lawn.
If you have pets that spend time outdoors, a big first sign of a flea infestation is when your cat or dog is constantly itching, rubbing, and scratching. You might also notice your pets have an irregular appetite, are extremely tired, or are experiencing a bit of hair loss. If you have a cat or dog, you might even notice red, bumpy skin, which is actually an allergic reaction to fleas.
You or your family members can also bring fleas inside. They can grab a ride on your clothing, on blankets you use to have a picnic, and on any stuffed animals or toys your children take outdoors.
Where Do Fleas Hang Out In Your Yard?
So when they aren’t sucking the blood from your pets and family members, fleas are hanging out in their favorite places.
Outside, fleas prefer shady spots where the air is cool and moist. Think woodpiles, leaf piles, and shrubs, as well as in landscaped areas where rodents and small mammals also find shelter.
Your tall grass blades can shade fragile flea eggs and larvae while also giving fleas a place to hide from potential predators. Fleas also like moisture and humidity, and well-watered lawns hold plenty of moisture – in the grass and in the soil.
How to Get Rid of Fleas In Your Yard
How do you get rid of fleas in your yard?
It starts with some outdoor maintenance, and if your infestation is larger, may require some treatments by a professional pest control company.
Try these tips to ensure reduced flea populations in your yard.
Flea Prevention Tip #1: Trim Overgrown Plants
Lots of tall grasses and vegetative brush near your home are key places where fleas like to hang out.
This is why how to get rid of fleas in your yard includes trimming tall grasses and properly managing any overgrowth. This task is especially important to do at your property’s border edges, particularly if your home landscape backs up to woods or a prairie or preserve where other wild animals may hang out or find shelter.
You want to limit grassy overgrowth around places your family likes to hang out, too, such as patios, playgrounds, or around fire pits.
Flea Prevention Tip #2: Regularly Mow Your Lawn
How to get rid of fleas in your yard also involves mowing your lawn on a regular basis.
Ticks prefer all sorts of tall grasses – your lawn included.
During the growing season, you want to mow your lawn weekly, keeping it to a 3- to 4-inch height. This will help discourage fleas from hanging out too close to your home where your family, friends, and pets are most often present.
Flea Prevention Tip #3: Keep Rodents Out of Your Yard
Fleas can also get close to you and your family members by traveling in on small mice and rodents – everything from rats to squirrels to other small mammals, and even some larger ones.
By keeping your lawn mowed and other tall grasses trimmed, you discourage these potential flea carriers from taking up residence in your yard.
The other thing you can do concerning how to get rid of fleas in your yard is keep your trash secure with tightly sealed lids so you’re not drawing mammals – otherwise known as flea food – in.
Flea Prevention Tip #4: Control Fleas in Your Yard With Flea Control Treatments
Even if you follow all of the prevention tips, fleas may still find their way to your yard or home.
This is where yard flea treatment in Prince William County can make a huge difference.
Professional flea control treatments can target these pests that have entered your property despite your best attempts at keeping them at bay.
Turf’s Up uses a natural, professional-grade product containing cedar oil to control fleas. This oil blocks the scent receptors of bugs, disrupting their bodies’ systems and functions and drying them up. We like to apply this product in three-week intervals from April through October, which is about 12 treatments.
Our professionals target this treatment to flea hangouts like grasses and groundcovers to help drastically reduce your flea populations.
Let a Professional Help you Fight Fleas and Keep Them Out For Good
Fleas are a nuisance – there’s no doubt about it.
You don’t want them in your yard, you don’t want them on your pets, and you certainly don't want them in your home.
Since peak flea season begins in April in Northern Virginia, just prior to this is the best time to act to prepare your yard.
If you think fleas might be present in your yard or you’re worried that they will be a problem this year, give Turf’s Up a call. We know the whole idea of fighting fleas can seem overwhelming, and we want to take that burden off of your hands and make it easy for you.
We’ve been providing yard flea treatments in Prince William County for years and know exactly how to battle them and keep them away.
Then you get to spend as many hours as you like just sitting back and enjoying the summer day in your yard – worry free. And your flea-free pets will thank you, too.
Ready to learn why Turf’s Up could be your totally awesome choice for flea control in Northern Virginia? We’re stoked to learn more about you and help you eliminate your fleas once and for all. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we can prepare a customized plan that is perfect for you and your yard.
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