I’m fighting fleas right now.
We’ve made progress since we fogged the house while the kittens were at the vet. They also have flea collars and have stopped scratching.
I realized I know nothing about fleas. They may be a pest, but they’re still animals just trying to live and reproduce. I hope these flea facts don’t gross you out. They may be fascinating, but I still want them out of my house.
Fun Flea Facts (or not so fun) [From ThoughtCo.]
- Fleas transmitted the Black Death. We blame the rats, but it was really the fleas. The plague that the fleas carried would kill the rats, and then the fleas would start chewing on humans, thus spreading the plague to them. Getting rid of the rats got rid of the fleas.
- Fleas can lay up to fifty eggs a day and 2,000 eggs in their lifespan.
- An adult flea may take as many as fifteen blood meals in a single day.
- Fleas are smooth and skinny, so they can slide through animal hair without getting tangled up.
- There are over 2,500 species of fleas with 325 in the contiguous United States.
- Almost all fleas in homes are cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis. Despite the name, these fleas feed on dogs too.
- Dinosaurs had fleas too. These fleas were .8 inches long and had mouthparts large enough to pierce dinosaur skin. However, they couldn’t jump.
- Today’s fleas can jump 12 inches forward or upward. That’s about 150 times its own height.