how do you rid your yard of fleas?

Question

i"m living in south carolina and the fleas are horrible not only for my dogs but my children are being eaten alive

Answer 1

Tobacco dust works really good.

Answer 2

Hello Stephanie...so you got a flea problem thats bad because it leads to infestation.

The best way to get rid of fleas in your yard is to spray Lindane with a bug sprayer.
You can buy this chemical at "Do It Yourself Pest Control" located in your area or elswhere.

I would use double the amount to one gallon of water and wtach the results.
Not only do you kill fleas, you kill ants, bugs millworms, nats...ext
Lock your dog up in a pen for a few days after you treat the area.

Anything that crawls on the yard after you treat it is dead.

The risdual last up too three weeks.

Once you treat your yard real good you won't have to do it again.

If you want to treat your house as well, leave the windows open and leave for the day after you spray all over your rugs and carpet.
The Lindane is very powerful.
Hit the house in the morning and be gone all day and return in the evening and you will be fine.

Should you choose not to use the Lindane in the house there is one other option.

Get a plate and put a candle in the middle of the plate and pooiur water around it with the candle in the middle of the plate.
Turn off all the lights at night in your house and the watch the fleas line up and jump right in to the flame.
This is a remarkable thing, but it really works especially when there is infestation.

Answer 3

Diatomacious Earth (DE) is an effective flea & insect control that can be spread on your lawn and around pet bedding areas. Here's sites about using Horticultural Grade DE :
http://www.geocities.com/KelliAnn293/diatomaceousearth.htm
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/farmlife/msg1004241420431.html?5

Peppermint and Eucalyptus & many plants & herbs are a natural flea control & makes an excellent non-toxic shampoo. Lemon juice made into a spray and used across the door sill can deter many a flea from entering. Keep grass cut, trim bushes and dispose of dead shrubbery and debris.
http://www.awarenessmag.com/julaug8/JA8_FLEA.HTML
Flea repellents:
Oils of cedarwood, peppermint, erigeron, sweet
orange,sassafras,spearmint, eucalyptus,
wintergreen.
Cedar chips can be used for paths & mulch.
Plants: basil, camomile, costmary, cowslip, daisies, fennel, garlic, germander, hops, marjoram, meadowsweet, mint, pennyroyal, pine, rose, rosemary, sage, southernwood, sweet flag, sweet woodruff, tansy, thuja, thyme, sweet violet, winter savory.
http://www.henriettesherbal.com/archives/best/1996/fleas.html

Biologic control using the beneficial nematode Steinernema carpocapsa is based on the fact that these nematodes parasitise the flea (and other insects) larvae and result in their destruction. The nematodes are applied as a spray to the ground. Application of the nematodes must be periodically repeated & is best suited for situations where the pet spends a high percentage of time outdoors & it's applied to shaded areas & would only be one part of a larger flea control program. This site has a lot more info on other flea controls (how to make a natural flea powder & shampoo):
http://lowchensaustralia.com/pests/bites2.htm

Good luck! Hope this helps.

P.S.(Pennyroyal kills fleas, but be careful. Pennyroyal, Rue & Wormwood & some UNDILUTED essential oils may be too risky to use directly on pets & some pets have an adverse reaction even to Rosemary.)
Also avoid breathing in Diatomacious Earth.
Make sure you read the gardenweb site on using DE safely.
ORANGE, GRAPEFRUIT, LEMON & LIME OILS - derived from the peels of these citrus fruits, contain d-Limonene, which is lethal to fleas is safe for dogs.

Answer 4

The safest and cheapest method of getting rid of fleas is to use a mixture of boric acid and salt. More information on getting rid of fleas is available at http://pests.in/fleas.html

Answer 5

Treat your pets immediately with one of the spot treatments like Advance or Frontline -- get it from the vet, as some of the OTC treatments are very problematic. At the same time, treat your house with a long term IGR (insect growth regulator) like Nylar or methoprene. You can buy the concentrates pretty cheaply from many farm stores or from places like pestproducts.com or similar. Enough to treat the average house for a year should be in the $20-40 range (you'll mix it with water and spray at 6 month intervals.) Don't bother with so-called flea bombs... they just can't get the materials to where they're needed.

IGRs are extremely low toxicity to mammals and most other animals, but keep baby fleas from growing up into biting, breeding, adult fleas. Nylar is stable in UV light; methoprene is not. Nylar can also be used outdoors for outdoor flea control, though I really prefer beneficial nematodes for that purpose. (IGRs can also control a lot of the other household pest insects at the same time.)

Nylar and methoprene are also available mixed with various insecticides for "quick knockdown". That's the expensive route to take, imho, but might be something to consider for right now. Pyrethrins and pyrethroids are probably the lowest toxicity insecticides you'll find with Nylar or methoprene (aka Precor); I don't have a lot of personal experience with them because I'm quite sensitive to them. I find spraying the house interior every 6 months with plain Nylar is adequate control here; I use an ordinary pump-up garden sprayer, about $20 at any Walmart-Kmart-hardware store.

Talk to your veterinarian or to the local extension entomologist about resistance to certain insecticides that have been noticed with fleas in your area. Permethrin is one that fleas can become resistant to quite easily. Might as well choose one that works in your area if you're going to that expense.

Beneficial nematodes for flea control: http://www.biconet.com/pets/fleasBGone.html -- just as an example. I got our whole neighborhood in the city to chip in on the costs and I sprayed Steinernema on everyone's lawn (none of us were insecticide users). We remained flea-free for about 6 years before we had to do it again -- despite high animal populations in the area. Don't spray nematodes and nylar with insecticides together... the insecticide will probably kill the nematodes. I bought the nematodes I used locally at one of the organic home and garden stores. Spraying is easy... hose end sprayer, plenty of water.

You'll also want to vacuum the house like crazy and wash all pet bedding and throw rugs before treating the house.

More information on flea control:
http://lancaster.unl.edu/enviro/pest/factsheets/007-98.htm
http://www.vetmed.iastate.edu/animal_owners/animal_health/dermatology/index.html
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/the_flea_control_center.html

Answer 6

If you have fleas in the yard, you should treat the house and your pets at the same time.

Answer 7

Ogden Nash wrote the shortest poem in the English language on fleas:

Adam
Had 'em.

Very little can be done. The cure may be worse than the disease. Reinfestaion will be almost immediate. Repellants may be the only safe option.