How to Treat Fleas on a Porch
A flea infestation anywhere in the home is a nightmare for your pets as well as for you, especially if you're allergic to the tiny black bloodsuckers, who leave behind itchy welts on the skin. Flea infestations on your porch can happen for a number of reasons, but it's usually because of pets with fleas who stay on the porch. Fight porch flea infestations through meticulous cleaning and the use of all-natural flea repellents.
Vacuum your porch two or three times a day, each day, until the flea problem is resolved. Vacuum the floor, any carpeting, couch cushions and pillows, along the ceiling, and in any other areas you think fleas are hiding out. Leave no area un-vacuumed.
Plug in a nightlight in an outlet on your porch and set a small dish of soapy water underneath it. Fleas are attracted to light and will subsequently fall in the soapy water and drown.
Place electric flea-trap sticky pads around the areas of your porch in which fleas appear. Move the traps if needed to cover all areas, or set multiple traps.
Wash any animal bedding on your porch with hot, soapy water.
Apply small deposits of diatomaceous earth around your porch. Diatomaceous earth is an all-natural product made of diatoms, or tiny fossilized skeletal remains of unicellular plants. It's lethal to fleas because it features microscopic yet razor-sharp edges that cut into fleas' outer shells, resulting in death. Use diatmaceous earth until your flea problem is resolved.
Keep pennyroyal plants, which are repulsive to fleas, on your back porch.
Tip
Bathe pets in pennyroyal tea as an all-natural flea bath. Diatomaceous earth is nontoxic to humans as well as pets. Pennyroyal plants also help ward off mosquitoes.
Warning
If your pet has fleas, you must take care of its infestation for any of the above methods to be successful.
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Writer Bio
Kent Page McGroarty has worked as a writer since 2006, contributing numerous articles to various websites. She is a frequent contributor to the health and fitness sections of the online magazine EDGE Publications and holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Saint Joseph's University.
