Non chemical warfare on fleas?

[Perry Templeton]

I have an employee that is anti chemicals. He has an infestation of fleas in his house. We are in South Louisiana, way south. Below New Orleans. Sultry and hot. He had a cat. Said cat has expired. Fleas now are feeding on humans, etc. My guy doesn't want to do anything chemical to get rid of the fleas. What solutions? Besides moving? The house is up off the ground, built on pillars. Perry I will post this in several different forums so I apologize in advance for any redundance.

[KLM]

I remember seeing (on TV) years ago a report on whole house fumigation. What was done was the pesticide company enclosed the whole building in a plastic coccoon, pumped in hot air and left it in that condition for more than a day. The insects are generally very sensitive to dehydration and the hot air did that. This may be your employee's solution.

In a separate story flea infestation had been in the news recently as having infested whole houses and impossible to delouse. These fleas were brought back from cheap holiday hotels. Their victims had to abandon their homes and burn their clothing, anything that might harbor fleas, before moving to new accommodations. I wouldn't want to be in your employee's shoes.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

There are ways of killing them on contact, but you have to see them to spry them. Even a soap solution will probably work that way, but wait, soap is made from chemicals.

He not only has an infestation now, but will have another once the eggs are hatched and again when that cycle comes about.

You can try the suggestions here though:

But one ingredient is soap and soap is a chemical.

[dadiOH]

No chemicals? Then he will have to suffer a while as he will have to = break the life cycle. The source of fleas is - naturally - eggs. Those = eggs hatch into flea larva. The eggs and larva will be found on the = floor generally. That means...

1. If he has carpets or rugs he had best get rid of them temporarily.
2. The floor needs to be thoroughly vacuumed frequently. =20
3. The eggs/larva can be in *any* low place. Therefore places such as = beds, overstuffed furniture, etc. must be included in the cleaning = regimen.

With enough attention to the above for a year or so they can eventually = be eliminated. =20

Aerosol flea bombs are worlds easier but even those have to be repeated = at frequent intervals as flea eggs are viable for up to nine months = IIRC.

As another thought, he might get a dog and use a systemic flea killer on = the dog. That would get rid of them too. Eventually. =20

--=20 dadiOH _____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.0... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle.

The only Natural killer of fleas and Red Bugs is a Cratemurtle Bush [ spelling poor ] . Go out and cut you a bunch of these bushes and put them in the rooms. They last for about 30 days and then you have to cut some more. This was a old Coonass cure and has been given up for the chemical sprays.

TURTLE

[NorMinn]

life cycle. The source of fleas is - naturally - eggs. Those eggs hatch into flea larva. The eggs and larva will be found on the floor generally. That means...

overstuffed furniture, etc. must be included in the cleaning regimen.

intervals as flea eggs are viable for up to nine months IIRC.

That would get rid of them too. Eventually.

When we had a cat, our vet prescribed Advantage and recommended dusting carpets with boric acid. Boric acid to be left on for a week then vacuumed up. With no cat, I'd do the boric acid and try to stay somewhere else at least four days. Don't take any fleas with you :o) We had tried everything else - flea shampoo, dips, dust, bombs. Nothing touched 'em. Advantage did it before we got around to the boric acid.

[Lar]

In article , [e-mail] says... :) I have an employee that is anti chemicals. He has an infestation of fleas :) in his house. We are in South Louisiana, way south. Below New Orleans. :) Sultry and hot. He had a cat. Said cat has expired. Fleas now are feeding :) on humans, etc. My guy doesn't want to do anything chemical to get rid of :) the fleas. What solutions? Besides moving? The house is up off the :) ground, built on pillars. :) Perry If it is an indoor infestation he might try having the home steam cleaned 2,

3 maybe four times 10 days or so apart. He can put a lamp or plug in a night light near the floor with a pan of water under the light which will collect adult fleas and may help monitor his activity. If the infestation is under the house it will be a mess for him. No telling when the problem will stop unless treated with an insecticide.

[smithfarms pure kona]

I have heard of using diatomaceous (spelling) earth. It is irregular in size and very small and- sorry- gets into their lungs. Might be a slow process. It sounds as though the flea eggs are hatching and this will go on.

aloha, Thunder

Farmers & Sellers of 100% Kona Coffee & other Great Stuff

[Mary Shafer]

We don't have fleas here, so my knowledge is purely theoretical, but boric acid dusted into the carpets and upholstery, after extremely thorough vacuuming, and left there for two weeks is supposed to work. Throw the vacuum bag out immediately, by the way.

Otherwise, try reducing the relative humidity to about 20% for a week or two, which is why we don't have fleas here.

Mary

[Charles Spitzer]

insects don't have lungs.

d.e. is sharp, and punctures the shell of insects. it also gets picked up on their feet and food, and when ingested, tends to rip up their insides.

[Lar]

In article , [e-mail] says... :) We don't have fleas here, so my knowledge is purely theoretical, but :) boric acid dusted into the carpets and upholstery, after extremely :) thorough vacuuming, and left there for two weeks is supposed to work. :) Throw the vacuum bag out immediately, by the way. :) :) Boric acid will be one of the more toxic solutions which I think they are trying to avoid.

[smithfarms pure kona]

infestation

irregular

picked up on

insides.

Thank you Charles. Of course you are correct. I wanted to say that the sharpness would be ingested and then is quite lethal. I am just a farmer. aloha, Thunder

Farmers & Sellers of 100% Kona Coffee & other Great Stuff

[Mary Shafer]

Then use diatomacious earth, like you use for snails and slugs. Same mechanism--physical damage from sharp diatom shells.

Mary

[Richard J Kinch]

Perhaps oral lithium to treat irrational fear is the chemical needed here.

Man does not survive without chemicals in the Deep South.

[Jim Yanik]

Lar wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I doubt boric acid will be toxic to humans,unless they are eating off the floor.It will not cause any allergic reactions,I believe.My container says harmful if swallowed.

[Lar]

In article , [e-mail] says... :) doubt boric acid will be toxic to humans,unless they are eating off the :) floor.It will not cause any allergic reactions,I believe.My container says :) harmful if swallowed. :) :) :) It is a cause of lung irritation when it is spread out in a carpet...yes it will probably not be considered toxic for the most part unless eaten, but it is still higher toxicity than other products that would be used.

[rck]

I agree. And fleas themselves can carry diseases. I'd let loose with a little pyrethrin followed by some cyfluthrin. I just fogged my house tonight and I'll sleep well knowing I won't get bitten by fleas, a black widow or brown recluse. We cannot avoid chemicals. Better to learn which ones can be safely used inside. This can be determined by calling the Agriculture Extension Service. Living causes dying so there is no avoiding it.

Bob

[John‰]                      Â]

Take a look at the flea trap:

I used one several years ago and found it quite effective, but I used it together with a spray. I'm not sure how effective it would be as a stand alone device. See if you can convice the guy to use the carpet sprinkle and trap together. A carpet sprinkle isn't *really* a chemical, right?

You can also try this:

or the "organic formula":

John

[BeamGuy]

About 15 years ago our cat brought fleas back from the cat sitter's house, and indeed they liked to munch on humans too. The poor cat would have to suffer a bath once a week in all those hartz flea dip stuff, fleas would even crawl right accross her eyeball in the tub as I picked off several dozen or more of the critters. After a few months of this, and wrecking the wood floor with one of those flea traps with the light over it (don't put them over a towel) we finally gave into "chemicals".

The one we used was a growth regulating hormone. I did not kill adult fleas, just made is so their eggs would not hatch. By that time we were desperate and sprayed it everywhere - all carpets, furnature... There were some warnings to stay out while it dried, might have been more about the carrier liquid than the hormone itself.

Worked - fleas were gone.

This is the same principal as some of the new flea treatments, which use the same active ingrediant as some of the most effective termite treatments. It is so non-lethal to mammals that your cat can eat it (early versions were given as a pill I believe), but terribly lethal to insects.