Mosquitoes, Ticks & Fleas

When considering pest control treatment plans, it’s important to think about the creatures living in your yard. Many people focus on the space inside their home, but the area surrounding it is just as important. That space allows ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes to flourish if they aren’t tended to by a certified pest control technician.

Ticks

You may be surprised to learn that ticks are members of the same family as spiders: arachnids. About 25 different species wander the wooded and grassy areas of Central Arizona freely, feeding on the blood of humans and animals alike. Removing them is a delicate process that can lead to infection if done improperly. If it isn’t done quickly enough, it can lead to bigger problems: the parasites are known disease spreaders.

Of the diseases they spread, Lyme Disease is the most commonly known. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is the most severe sickness their bites cause, with the potential to prove deadly, and Arizona has the most annual cases of RMSF in the United States. A dangerous bacterial infection called Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever has also popped up in patients in Arizona. A single tick can lay as many as 5,000 eggs, so time is of the essence.

Fleas

Fleas are a blood-eating parasite commonly found in Arizona yards. The insects are fascinating, able to jump 30,000 times in a row without stopping, during which they accelerate 50 times faster than a space shuttle to be able to travel 150 times the length of their size. They are virtually blind and can pull up to 160,000 times their weight. Despite the interesting factoids about fleas, though, they remain an absolute nuisance in Arizona.

It isn’t just itchy bite marks that make the pests a burden. Fleas are known to carry diseases such as Typhus and Cat Scratch Disease, along with parasites like tapeworms. Unfortunately, the news on that gets worse. In April 2020, officials with Health and Human Services found fleas testing positive for the plague just about two and a half hours north of Chandler. Veterinarians warn that collars meant to protect your pets from ticks and fleas do not work well at all. For the best treatment methods, you’ll have to enlist help from an expert. Doing so is crucial since a single flea can multiply to 1,000 over the course of just three weeks.

Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes are yet another blood-sucking insect that is vital to keep out of your yard. The insects are active year-round in Arizona, posing a constant threat to the state’s residents. Mosquitoes carry many diseases, most of which have no vaccine, but the most common one found in Arizona is the West Nile Virus. The state’s Department of Public Health advises the best way to protect yourself and your family from those diseases is to keep them away from your home and business.

These flying insects are attracted to standing water bodies where they can lay their eggs and explode in population. Keeping them at bay requires more work than simply emptying a stray bucket. The Health Department and Vector Control are constantly in catch-up mode, trying to trap hundreds of thousands of mosquitoes each year. That group can’t do the whole job alone, leaving them to rely on local pest control experts to step in and eradicate as many of the bugs as possible.

Blue Gecko Termite and Pest Control

Everyone needs a little help from time to time. At Blue Gecko Termite and Pest Control, we’re proud to be the helping hand that keeps your yard free of invaders. That yard treatment works double duty, it impacts how many pests make it inside of your home or business. We treat our customers like family because, as a locally owned business, the technicians at Blue Gecko are your friends and neighbors. We want to see our community flourish, and we’ll do all we can to make that happen.