3 Signs You Have A Flea Infestation In Your Home

There are few pests more annoying than fleas. While there is an abundance of flea pesticide products on the shelves in your local grocery store, the sad truth is that most of them don't work—and the ones that do work, don't work well. Most of the time when you have a flea infestation, you have to call an exterminator to come into your home to get rid of the problem bugs. Here are three signs that you have a flea infestation in your home.

1. You notice a black dust on your indoor pet.

If your pet scratches a lot, you will likely check their skin to see what is irritating them. If you do this and you notice what looks like black dirt on them, then you likely have a flea infestation on your hands. Whether or not you see an actual live flea on your pet, this black dirt tells you that your pet has brought fleas into your home because the dust is actually fecal matter from the fleas after they digest your pet's blood.

If your pet has a lot of this substance on them, then that can actually be a sign that the female fleas have reproduced and made your flea infestation more problematic. So, at the first sign of it, you should give your pet a flea bath, treat them with a flea medication from the vet, and call an exterminator to treat your home.

2. A flea lands on you or someone else in the home.

Most of the time, the only way a person knows that they have a flea problem is if they notice their pet scratching a lot and they go inspect them. However, if you see a flea land on you when your pet isn't around, then you can just about guarantee that you have a massive flea infestation.

Where there's one flea, there's thousands more, and if there are so many that they land on you in hopes of finding their next meal, then you have a serious problem. Once you see that flea land on you or someone else in your home, you need to make a call to your local exterminator to come in and get your flea problem under control.

3. You notice small, itchy, red spots on your ankles when you wake up.

Fleas survive by feeding off of the blood of a host. This is usually your pet, but they will also feed off of people. If you have such a large flea infestation that there's not enough of your pet to go around, the fleas will find their way to you and anyone else in the house. As previously stated, it is easy to know that you have a flea problem when you see the flea jump on you. However, if you are asleep, you won't know that fleas have been on you until after you wake up and you see those small, itchy, red spots on your ankles and lower legs—these are flea bite marks.

While fleas in your home won't stay on your skin like they do on your pets, those bites can become a nuisance. For this reason, you should contact an exterminator to have your home treated for a flea infestation as soon as you notice any flea bites on your skin.