ColumbusBestBlog.com's Science Experiment Saturday

I was taking photos at a listing once and thought I was getting bit  by mosquitos.  I looked at my back in the walled mirror dining room and was covered with fleas.  THe condo had been vacant and they must have bred out of control in there.

I was 25 miles from home and ended up at a friends house, stipped on the front porch, called inside from my cell phone and begged for a trash bag (for my clothes) and flea-free clothes to wear home.  I don't think I ever itched so bad, for so long, my whole life.

Maureen.  You can make even a flea infestation interesting.

It is interesting, though, the adverntures we have had with pests in homes.  I've run into fleas, mice, roaches, rats, snakes, bats, dogs and cats of course, ferrets, silverfish, parrots, termintes, voles, and some I probably can't think of now.

Part of the job.

Your drawing reminded me of my "former life". I was introducing a new product at the national sales conference to around 300 salespeople. Our presentations were formal and shown on a huge (20' x 20') screen behind the podium. One of the new products I was introducing required a photo of a flea. The photo I used was an actual flea - magnetized - but a front view - not the side shot like yours. You should have seen the effect a 20'x20' flea's face has on a crowd of people when it "pops" up. Everybody moved back in their seat. Oh, well, I had their attention. ;-)

BTW, a flea's face is really, really ugly!

Maureen, thanks for the mention of my 'green' flea remedy.   It's great in homes where there are pets and children where toxic sprays etc should be avoided.

The pie plate and light are only set up at night in a dark room , of course.   A week or so of good vaccuuming (hit every single crevice and baseboard to get as many eggs, larvae, pupae and adult fleas as possible) and the pie-plate routine should nip the flea problem in the bud.  

Also, keep your pets bathed regularly in a good organic flea bath or use organic flea soap, safe for the pets, safe for  your children and safe for you. 

The reason the vegetable oil works is that it plugs up the fleas breathing apparatii (spiracles ) and they suffocate. The other thing is, if a pet does happen to drink the water, it  won't hurt the pet. However any pie plate set-up is not going to last long with pets running around the room (just keep them out of that room during the night).

You may still find the odd flea as pupae can sit in a state of homeostasis for up to a year (depending on the species of flea) and their hard impenetrable shell makes them virtually impervious to most toxic sprays. Vibrations usually cause the pupae to open up releasing the adult stage of the flea. This is why a vacant house can sit with no pets in it for many months, then people enter, the vibrations of their footsteps cause the pupae to hatch, and voila, fleas !

It does make a neat science experiment, however one which you hopefully won't have to try.

Jo