The War On Fleas
One of the local consequences of climate change is that we haven’t had a hard freeze in over three years. While most people would be thinking: “Well, you live in Florida, why would you want a freeze?” Freezes kept down the bugs.
Before when we had a cold front move through it would rain, and then when it cleared out things would freeze, including the wet ground. A freeze would really significantly reduce fleas and fireants. Without the freeze, the numbers just get larger.
This year my favorite flea medication for the cats, Frontline Plus, stopped working. I have been using it for years, so the current fleas are descended from those who are resistant to the chemicals in Frontline.
My house and cats are infested, and I have to plot a course to fight the fleas.
I will switch the cats to Advantage II because the fleas haven’t encountered that one, and I have ordered three different flea traps to see if I can find one that is effective. None of the traps use chemicals, they all essentially use light and heat to attract the fleas that are then stuck on adhesive pads.
I considered removing the cats and bombing the house, but most of the flea bomb use the same chemicals as Frontline, so that won’t work.
May 26, 2013 9 Comments
