Answers To Your Most Common Questions About Flea Bites

Fleas are small insects that can’t fly. They live on blood and once outside their puparia they only have seven days to get blood or they won’t survive. Their craving for blood makes them seek pets like cats and dogs as their host with everything they’ve got. The cost to this is felt by American families to the tune of $4 Billion according to Wikipedia.

But as much as they love pets, fleas are also known to take a bite on human beings especially on ankles. So here are the answers to your questions. What are flea bites? Why do they bite human ankles? And how can you get rid of these bugs? Here you go:

What are flea bites?

For fleas, their main food is blood as mentioned above. How they get the blood is by sucking blood-carrying creatures like dogs, cats, and human beings. The fleas start by climbing onto the creature then attaching themselves to the skin using their very strong claws. They then use their mouthparts to pierce the skin and the pierced part often gets a bump that is the flea bite.

Flea bites are small, discolored bumps on your skin that come from a flea feeding on your blood.

Fleas are tiny, wingless insects. They are dark brown or black and have flat bodies. They have six legs, strong claws on the bottoms of their legs that allow them to hold onto a host and mouthparts that pierce your skin and feed on your blood. Their hind legs are longer and stronger than their legs in the middle and the front, allowing them to jump over 12 inches.

There are more than 2,500 flea species in the world and more than 300 species in the United States.

Flea bites rarely cause any lasting harm. They cause mild annoyance and irritation for a short period. However, flea bites can be dangerous because they may spread diseases that can be serious or even fatal. Read more from Cleveland Clinic…

Why do fleas bite ankles?

You’ll often hear people complain how fleas constantly bite ankles as though they don’t know any other parts. But the truth is that the ankle tends to be the most accessible part for the very tiny fleas. This works well in a home setup where you don’t have socks or clothing items obstructing the ankles.

Fleas are not fussy eaters, they would prefer to get their blood from their host, but if that’s not available they will look elsewhere, humans have a good supply of blood making them a good target.

They see human flesh and think it’s a restaurant for them to have a nice hearty meal, but not just one meal they want starters mains and desert, but why do they target your feet and ankles.

Fleas don’t fly like a lot of insects, but they do jump, and they can jump up to 8 inches, which makes your ankles the perfect height for them to reach. Read more from Flea-bites…

Fleas can easily access your ankles by jumping on your trousers or any other clothing that is way low to the ground.

How can I get rid of fleas?

Fleas being very tiny can be very hard to get rid of. And if you don’t get it right you can end up having a full-blown infestation. One of the very effective ways of getting rid of fleas is vacuuming your home. But you will find that vacuuming never gets rid of the eggs that might have been laid. So you may always have the problem with short periods of rest in between.

While anyone can get flea bites, humans are most likely to come into contact with fleas directly from their pets.

That’s because dogs or cats spend more time in the grass and dirt, where fleas live. So, even though the symptoms of flea bites may resolve in a few days, you are likely to continue getting bitten if you do not treat your pet and home.

Research shows that vacuuming is one of the best ways to eliminate fleas, and can even kill 96% of adult fleas. But getting rid of just the adult fleas won’t completely solve your problem.

Fleas have a long life cycle of about 20 to 35 days, and there may still be hundreds of eggs in your home that could hatch a week later. Read more from Insider…

To get rid of fleas in totality you will need a professional hand. Backyard Bug Patrol has experienced personnel who have dealt with a flea infestation in many Maryland homes. Call us today and with our services, your home will be flea-free.