Fleas

This has been the summer of insects at my house. First there was the invasion of ants into my attic and porch columns. Then, when I returned from Arkansas, the house was full of fleas.

The cats have been outside full-time (by their own choice) for close to two weeks, so I don't know where the fleas came from. It's been ten years or more since I've seen this many of them, and that was in a different location — when I had no pets at all. I was in an apartment then, and I think they came across from a neighbor's dog.

This time, I suspect that possum that was on my porch the other night is somehow involved. I think I may put out a trap for him and turn him loose out in the country somewhere. I can get a humane trap at the hardware store near my house.

I flea-bombed the house yesterday morning, and when I came home, the fleas were gone. Six hours later, they were starting to reappear. I set off another bomb and left; when I came home, they were gone. But by about eight pm, they had started to reappear yet again.

Last night, I used a technique I found on a web page. I filled a dish with mildly soapy water and put it on the floor. I put a desk lamp over the dish. After I went to bed, when all the other lights were out, fleas were drawn to the light and jumped into the soapy water. I got about forty that way.

I have some other techniques for dealing with fleas I'm going to employ today.

This is a real nuisance.