Fleas belong at the circus, not your home

Fleas can leave you, well, bugging out. These teeny tiny bugs can drive you and your pets absolutely crazy with itchy bites. Fleas can also carry germs leading to diseases like cat scratch disease and flea-borne typhus. Your furry friends can also be at risk around fleas because bites can trigger allergic reactions and cause blood loss. Fleas, if eaten by your pet, could pass along tapeworm eggs.

Clearly, fleas aren't something you want to mess around with. Fortunately, professional pest control can eliminate these irritating and potentially risky pests.

Identifying fleas by sight can be a bit tricky. Because fleas are usually about 1.5 to 3 mm, you might notice flea bites and lots of itching before you see the fleas. If you do happen to see fleas, you'll most likely just see tiny oval-shaped bugs with no wings. Expect them to look dark in color and have hard shells.

Don't be fooled—just because fleas don't have wings doesn't mean they can't cover serious ground. They can jump from one host to another, so if Fluffy has fleas, you're not safe, either. Fleas feed on animal (and human) blood, so they are often discovered by the bite marks they leave. Flea bites are generally itchy and may form a line or a cluster on your skin. It's especially common to get flea bites on your lower legs. If you're looking for fleas on a pet, you might see the small bugs attached to their skin or crawling through their fur.

To help prevent fleas, keep your home and outdoor spaces tidy. Doing things like vacuuming regularly, bathing your pets with flea shampoo, and doing regular landscaping can help. Following veterinarian-recommended solutions for pet flea prevention can also help you keep fleas out of your home. At the end of the day, though, if you're already seeing fleas in your house there may be hundreds of eggs waiting to hatch. Professional pest control is the best solution for eliminating an infestation.