Have you discovered a flea infestation in your pet-free home? If you have friends or neighbours with a dog or cat, you might believe that the fleas are coming from them. However, fleas don't just hitch rides on the hides of pets. Humans can bring them indoors, too.

Moreover, fleas have an unfair advantage when it comes to the waiting game. As a result, what you thought was a pest-free environment could turn out to be a flea haven.

New Fleas Can Wait Months

Adult fleas can only go for a few days without food. Young adult fleas that have yet to hatch from their cocoons can await a meal for months. As long as they don't emerge from their cocoons, they can wait in an empty house — or room — until a mammal or bird arrives.

Fleas are able to detect the presence of pets or humans via vibrations, such as those caused by footsteps. Upon locating the nearby potential host, the fleas then emerge from their cocoons and attempt to latch onto the new food source.

If you have just moved into a new home or apartment that was once occupied by pets, the fleas you are encountering may have just hatched. Flea pupae and eggs are hard to spot as they are usually found in cracks, such as the cracks between floorboards. However, in heavily infested areas, the presence of a human can bring fleas out in droves.

Fleas Live in Your Garden

Although fleas do love the Australian climate due to its heat and humidity, they often live in shaded areas. In a garden, this means fleas stick to areas with long grass in the shade of a nearby plant. As a result, gardeners are at risk of attracting the attention of nearby fleas. Once fleas find a host, they tend to stay for the long haul.

This means that you could be taking fleas into your house from the garden. Unfortunately, fleas can lay as many as 25 eggs a day. As you move around your home, these eggs could end up everywhere.  

You Need a Professional

Although you can kill fleas with bug spray, you won't be able to find and kill them all. The biggest issue will be the fleas that are still inside their cocoons and have yet to reach maturity. Destroying them will be difficult because flea cocoons are tiny and could be hidden in the many cracks and crevices of your home.

Only an experienced and professional pest controller, such as Stewarts Pest Control, can locate and destroy flea nests and infestations. If you believe that fleas have found a way into your home, don't let them breed out of control. Hire a pest controller today.