Fleas are small (1/16 to 1/8-inch (1.5 to 3.3 mm) long), agile, usually dark colored (for example, the reddish-brown of the cat flea), wingless insects with tube-like mouth-parts adapted to feeding on the blood of their hosts. Their bodies are laterally compressed (human anatomical terms), permitting easy movement through the hairs or feathers on the host's body (or in the case of humans, under clothes). Their legs are long, the hind pair well adapted for jumping (vertically up to seven inches (18 cm); horizontally thirteen inches (33 cm) - around 200 times their own body length, making the flea one of the best jumpers of all known animals (in comparison to body size), second only to the froghopper. The flea body is hard, polished, and covered with many hairs and short spines directed backward, which also assists its movements on the host. Its tough body is able to withstand great pressure, likely an adaptation to survive attempts to eliminate them such as scratching. Even hard squeezing between the fingers is normally insufficient to kill the flea; it may be necessary to capture them with adhesive tape, crush them between the fingernails, roll them between the fingers, or put them in a fire-safe area and burn them with match or lighter. They can also be drowned. 

 Life cycle and habitat 

Fleas are holometabolous insects, going through the three life cycle stages of larva, pupa, and imago (adult). The flea life cycle begins when the female lays after feeding. Adult fleas must feed on blood before they can become capable of reproduction. Eggs are laid in batches of up to 20 or so, usually on the host itself, which easily roll onto the ground. As such, areas where the host rests and sleeps become one of the primary habitats of eggs and developing fleas. The eggs take 
around two days to two weeks to hatch. 

   Flea larvae emerge from the eggs to feed on any available organic material such as dead insects, feces, and vegetable matter. They are blind and avoid sunlight, keeping to dark places like sand, cracks and crevices, and bedding. Given an adequate supply of food, larvae should pupate and weave a silken cocoon within 1-2 weeks after 3 larval stages. After another week or two, the adult flea is fully developed and ready to emerge from the cocoon. They may however remain resting during this period until they receive a signal that a host is near - vibrations (including sound), heat, and carbon dioxide are all stimuli indicating the probable presence of a host

  Fleas are known to overwinter in the larval or pupal stages. Once the flea reaches adulthood its primary goal is to find blood - adult fleas must feed on blood in order to reproduce. Adult fleas only have around a week to find food once they emerge, though they can survive two months to a year between meals. A flea population is unevenly distributed, with 50 percent eggs, 35 percent larvae, 10 percent pupae, and 5 percent adults. Their total life cycle can take as little as two weeks, but may be lengthened to many months if conditions are favorable. Female fleas can lay 500 or more eggs over their life, allowing for phenomenal growth rates. 

  Fleas lay tiny white oval shaped eggs. Their larvae are small and pale with bristles covering their worm-like body. They lack eyes, and have mouthparts adapted to chewing. While the adult flea's diet consists solely of blood, the larvae feed on various organic matter, including the feces of mature fleas. In the pupal phase the larvae are enclosed in a silken, debris-covered cocoon.

Flea Repellents

Do Qualla bears have fleas?

 Eucalyptus Leaves 

  You can get them at any craft store. For some reason the fleas don't like the smell of it. I used this for many years when I lived in California. I had a dog and 2 cats and a toddler! Safe for the kids and the environment. 

AVON Skin So Soft

 It is said that if put on dogs coats will repel fleas and mosquitoes. 

Other uses are said to include !

PERSONAL USES 1. It's a bath oil and after shower moisturizer. 2. It can be used to remove makeup. 3. Great tanning oil (no sunscreen). 4. Hot oil treatment to soften cuticles. 5. Great massage oil for tired muscles. 6. Cleans off tape marks left from bandages on skin. 7. Cleans ink off the skin. 8. Insect repellent. 9. Helps relieve itching caused by dry skin. 10. Cleans oil and grease off of skin. 11. Painting something? Use SSS to remove paint from the hands. (Instead of turpentine). 12. It soothes light sunburn. 13. Rub hands with it before washing, it helps get them cleaner. 14. Rub on dry, cracked skin.... helps heal skin in 2-3 days. 15. Put 1-2 cap fills in liquid soap and use it for shaving legs and under arms. Helps razor glide and leaves skin feeling smooth. 16. Pour a little into your Foot Saver to help moisturize your feet while you relax them. 17. It removes chewing gum from hair, skin, and most nonporous surfaces. 18. Cleans permanent ink off stamps.19. SSS Original Bath Oil works GREAT on Head Lice!!!!! Saturate head and let it set for 15 minutes. Then rinse under an outdoor faucet, but the lice were gone!!!!!!!????

BORAX 

 Borax is said to be a good  flea repellent . It is not toxic and you can sprinkle it on your carpet. Let it sit for a few days and then vacuum it up. You can sprinkle it around the fence of your yard too.

Make a 50/50 mixture of 20 Mule Team Borax (the boxed laundry product), and diatomaceous earth. 

DE (diatomaceous Earth)

  . You can buy a large bag for just a few dollars at any swimming pool supply store. It is used normally as part of the filtration system for swimming pools. The absorbent qualities of diatomite can result in a significant drying of the hands, if handled without gloves. The flux-calcined form contains a highly crystalline form of silica, resulting in sharp edges. The sharpness of this version of the material makes it dangerous to breathe and a dust mask is recommended when working with it.

  The type of hazard posed by inhalation depends on the form of the silica. Crystalline silica poses a serious inhalation hazard because it can cause silicosis. Amorphous silica can cause dusty lungs, but does not carry the same degree of risk as crystalline silica. Natural or dried diatomite generally contains very low percentages of crystalline silica.

  Diatomite produced for pool filters is treated with high heat (calcining) and a fluxing agent (soda ash), causing the formerly amorphous silicon dioxide to assume its crystalline form.

 Disadvantages of using diatomaceous earth for pest control include the health risk to humans , and the harm it does to many beneficial insects, including predatory beetles and bugs and many detritivores. 

Cedar Chips as Repellent

   Putting cedar chips along your fence line will keep the fleas from other people's yards out of your yard, as cedar repels fleas.

 I have heard vets say do not bed your animals with cedar chips as they can be harmful so check this more closely.

  Tansy 

Planting tansy (an herb) around the dogs' pens 

 Common tansy has also been cultivated and used for its bug repellent and preservative effects. Common tansy and related species have been used for centuries as an insect and worm warding type of embalming.  It was packed into coffins, wrapped in funeral winding sheets, and sometimes tansy wreaths placed on the dead. The first president of Harvard was laid to rest in 1668 wearing a tansy wreath in a coffin packed with tansy; when “God’s Acre” was exhumed and moved in 1846, the tansy had maintained its shape and fragrance helping to identify the president’s remains. By the 19th century the use of tansy at funerals was so prevalent in New England that people began to despise tansy for its mournful and morbid association with death.

  During the American colonial period meat was frequently rubbed with or packed in common tansy to repel insects and prevent decay.  Also during the colonial period common tansy was frequently worn in shoes to prevent ague and malaria.

 In England tansy was placed on window sills to repel flies, sprigs placed in bed linen to drive away pests, and was also used as an ant repellent  In the 1940s distilled common tansy oils mixed with fleabane, pennyroyal, and diluted alcohol was a well known mosquito repellent, with collectors paying five cents a pound for tansy in full bloom . 

Common tansy was planted along side potatoes to repel the Colorado potato bug, one study finding tansy reduced the potato bugs population by 60-100% . Research has found that tansy extracts do indeed repel mosquitoes, but not as effectively as products containing diethyltoluamide 

 Toxicity

 Tansy contains volatile oils which can cause contact dermatitis in sensitive individuals and, if taken internally, result in toxic by-products being produced in the liver and digestive tract as the plant's oils are broken down. Tansy is highly toxic to internal parasites, and has been used by herbalists to expel worms for centuries. Because tansy contains thujone, the U.S. FDA limits tansy use to alcoholic beverages, and the final product must be thujone-free.

  Tansy is an effective insecticide, and is highly toxic to arthropods.  

 FLEA TRAP (I may try this one for giggles )

 At night you put a dinner plate on the floor (preferably in the room with the worst flea problem) and put a drop of dish soap in some water on the plate. Put a lamp on the floor next to the plate. The fleas are attracted to the light and jump on the plate. Without the dish soap the water surface tension is enough that they can jump off but with the soap the sink and drown. If this is done for several nights eventually all the fleas will be gone unless more are brought in. 

 Vacuum the house thoroughly, including floors and furniture. This will get any loose flea eggs, larvae, and adults. 

Lemon Grass Oil

 Lemon Grass Oil, used as a pesticide and preservative, is put on the ancient manuscripts found in India in Oriental Research Institute Mysore . The lemon grass oil also injects natural fluidity into the brittle palm leaves and the hydrophobic nature of the oil keeps the manuscripts dry so that the text is not lost to decay due to humidity. Research also shows that lemon grass oil has antifungal properties.

Garlic and yeast

Fleas particularly dislike the flavor of garlic and yeast (nutritional or brewer's yeast). Mixing garlic and yeast with your pet's food can render their blood unpalatable to fleas.

Cat owners: Please be aware that raw garlic is known to be toxic to cats. According to Dr. Randy Kidd, the use of garlic, as well as onions, shallots and chives, has been shown to cause damage to feline red blood cells which can result in hemolytic anemia and eventual death. Raw garlic and onions can also cause ulcers and irritation of the mouth, esophagus and stomach.

Use about a teaspoon of brewer's (or nutritional) yeast daily for cats and small dogs, and a tablespoon for a 50-pound dog. Some animals are yeast intolerant and will react with a skin allergy. Discontinue use if this occurs. Combine the yeast with the garlic in your animal's food, and consider doubling the dosage during peak flea season.

Other natural repellents include vitamin B1 (thiamine) and apple cider vinegar. (See your veterinarian for the correct amount of a vitamin B1 supplement for your pet. The dosage of apple cider vinegar is about one teaspoon daily in the pet's drinking water. Apple cider vinegar helps strengthen the immune system.