Fleas in Bakersfield: What Homeowners Need to Know

Fleas in Bakersfield and Kern County

Pet owners in Bakersfield are quite familiar with fleas. These little reddish-brown insects, just a few millimeters long, don't just infest your pets but spread to all corners of your home in less than a day. Many people mistakenly believe that fleas only live on pets and humans, but they actually spread and hide throughout your interior space and attack when you least expect it.

Fleas are experts at hiding in new environments. They can hide in your carpet, sofa, blankets, beds, floor cracks, and baseboards. This makes Bakersfield businesses vulnerable to fleas as well. Due to their small size, powerful legs, and rapid life cycle, fleas pose a serious threat to Bakersfield homeowners and businesses alike.

About Fleas

While fleas may appear small at first glance, they have very powerful hind legs that allow them to jump up to 150 times their own height. This incredible ability allows fleas to rapidly spread through your property and escape sudden threats. Fleas have hard outer shells that protect them from physical damage or being crushed. Their mouths are designed to pierce through human and pet skin to feed on blood.

Fleas are known to reproduce quickly and have four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Just one flea can lay up to 50 eggs per day, which is what allows fleas to turn into a serious problem overnight. The flea eggs don't just stay on your pets. They can fall onto carpets, bedding, and in between appliances or furniture, making them harder to locate. Their eggs can remain dormant for weeks and even months, which is why homeowners often experience continuous flea activity in their homes if they've experienced it once.

This makes flea infestation quite hard to eliminate, even for professional pest control services. We've met homeowners who've reported hiring other companies 3 or 4 times before contacting our team. The rapid life cycle of fleas and the way they spread their eggs makes fleas a tough pest to deal with. Moreover, store sprayers and foggers often fail to fully address the problem. They fail to eliminate all eggs, which allows an infestation to resume in a few weeks with new strength. Effective flea extermination services require eliminating fleas at all stages of their life cycle in their full entirety.

Real Incidents in Bakersfield

One recent case in Bakersfield's Foothill High School, where three portable classrooms were temporarily restricted from class due to a presence of fleas, has reminded the high school district and County of Kern about the importance of flea monitoring and professional pest inspections. The students were safely relocated, while the classrooms are now closely being monitored after being treated. This incident highlights that flea control in Bakersfield is not just a residential concern but a commercial one as well.

Health Risks from Fleas

Fleas are the type of pests that pose a direct health threat to you and your pets. Fleas hurt. Their bites can lead to itchy red welts, often appearing around ankles and lower legs. Flea bites can result in your pet scratching excessively, which can lead to open wounds and hair loss. A single bite from a flea can trigger your loved pet to experience severe itching, inflammation, or skin infection.

Pets that live in environments with severe flea infestation experience blood loss and anemia, which can be life-threatening to a pet, especially puppies or kittens. As for businesses, the presence of fleas poses health concerns for both customers and employees, with safety and hygiene regulations at stake.

Common Flea Species in Bakersfield

The city of Bakersfield is dominantly exposed to the Cat Flea, also called Ctenocephalides felis, the number one species in Bakersfield and the one that infests both homes and businesses. Despite their name, this species targets both cats and dogs. It enjoys warmer climates, is known to reproduce fast in indoor spaces, and can quickly adapt to homes, apartments, and townhouse buildings. The majority of flea infestations and flea pest control services cases result from cat flea.

The second dominantly encountered flea species is the Dog Flea, also called Ctenocephalides canis, which is encountered much less often than cat flea but remains as one of the encountered species of fleas in Bakersfield. This species is found on dogs, hence the name, but is usually misidentified due to its particular similarity with cat flea.

The agricultural areas of Kern County are exposed to fleas as well, with the Oriental Rat Flea species, also called Xenopsylla cheopis, being present. This species is associated with rodents and rats in general and is known to spread viruses and diseases. These types of fleas are dominantly found in older buildings, agricultural areas, and spaces with serious rodent infestations. Rarely are these found in the city or in your home. These are the three most common species of fleas we see as a pest control company in the Bakersfield area.

Why Bakersfield Has a Flea Problem

Climate Conditions Support Flea Infestations

The climate conditions of Bakersfield support flea infestations. Fleas prefer warmer climates with some humidity because this environment helps flea eggs to hatch and supports the survival of larvae. Humidity in particular is critical for flea larvae to survive, while direct sunlight can be deadly. This is why fleas often prefer shaded areas to hide and breed, choosing carpets and pet bedding. If outdoors, they often hide in shaded outdoor areas like decks, vegetation, or porches.

Cool, shady, moist areas are ideal for fleas to breed, lay eggs, and quickly spread throughout your property. Fleas need hosts. Fleas feed and reproduce only when hosts are in abundance, which is why fleas infest environments with abundant numbers of potential hosts. They look for cats, dogs, and some wild animals like rats, opossums, and raccoons, which can also spread colonies of fleas into other homes or around the neighborhoods. Yes, a few fleas on a raccoon is enough for them to travel to your home's doorstep!

Irrigation Systems Create Ideal Conditions

Bakersfield is located in the Central Valley, where the climate is hot and summers are dry, often reaching extreme heat. This is why a number of homeowners turn to irrigation systems to keep their vegetation alive. However, irrigation systems create pockets of moisture that fleas love. Irrigation systems help create the moisture that fleas enjoy in combination with outside heat. Irrigation systems support the survival of fleas and other pests around your home.

Agricultural Land Accelerates Flea Reproduction

Since Bakersfield is surrounded by agricultural land, that also contributes to the spread of fleas in Bakersfield. The agricultural land gets irrigated almost year-round, offering an abundance of moisture and shade that fleas can enjoy almost year-round. Permanently irrigated fields, moist soil near canals and crop rows, and moisture around farm buildings all provide fleas with favorable conditions to breed and survive.

The agricultural land around Bakersfield accelerates flea reproduction and allows them to be persistent throughout the year. From the agricultural land, the same colonies of fleas spread into local homes and businesses of Bakersfield by attaching themselves to the wildlife and rodents attracted by agricultural crops. Fleas attach themselves to rodents and wildlife that feed off the crops, then travel and spread into other areas of Bakersfield.

Fleas Are Hitchhikers

As surprising as it sounds, fleas often travel on their hosts. They find mice, rats, or other wildlife as their primary host, feeding on their blood while transporting themselves. Rodents can be considered hitchhiker pests. They can intrude on outdoor and indoor spaces using other hosts.

While Kern County agriculture is not dominated by livestock farms, there are still small animal holdings present. Animal feces and urine mixed with bedding provide nutrient-rich environments that support flea larvae and reproduction, especially considering the abundance of shade and irrigation. Fleas can survive for months under such favorable conditions, and when a threat occurs, they can travel in search of new hosts. Not only rodents or other wildlife are targeted by fleas, but also some livestock on Kern County's farms.

How Do Fleas Get Inside Bakersfield Homes and Businesses?

1. Pets Are the Primary Entry Point

The primary entry point for fleas is through a host. Fleas use a carrier, whether that's dogs, cats, or any other pets that frequently go outside. Essentially, fleas are hitchhiking in the fur of the pet and are then carried indoors.

Solution: We recommend protecting your pet with flea prevention and killing products year-round to avoid infestations and protect your pet's health. Check with your veterinarian on the best products for your pet. If your pet does go outside, even for just a few minutes a day, grooming your pet regularly is essential. This includes checking your pet's bedding, one of the most common hiding spots of fleas. Wash your pet's bedding weekly. Keep your pet away from other wildlife because fleas can spread, and they will.

Yes, fleas travel not just on pets but also on rodents and wildlife. Fleas can travel with raccoons, opossums, and squirrels that can wander into your backyard. Even if your pets don't go outside, or rarely do, fleas can invade your home through wildlife outside your home.

2. Gaps in Doors, Windows, and Screens

Check that your doors fully close, windows are sealed, and there are no torn screens or gaps in the door or windows. Often, fleas can jump or crawl through these gaps to get inside your home. Some fleas may even end up indoors through an open door when a person or pet walks outside. This tip is especially important for businesses with high foot traffic and door entrances.

Solution: Check that your doors, windows, and screens are fully sealed with no gaps or openings that give fleas easy access to your indoors. If your window frame or door frame does not entirely fit around the door or window, we recommend purchasing weather strips that can easily fill in the gaps. Install tight-fitting door sweeps on exterior doors if necessary.

If you have a pet door, make sure your pet door fully closes and seals. Check your pet door for any gaps or openings. Avoid leaving your doors open for extended periods of time. This is especially important for homeowners with multiple pets. Fleas love exploiting small openings, as they typically don't chew their way through.

3. Structural Damage and Rodent Entry Points

While fleas don't chew their way through indoors, other pests and wildlife do. Where other pests can pass through to get into your home, fleas can too. Check for cracks, gaps, or exterior damage that may have openings to your indoor space.

Solution: Seal any cracks in the foundation of your property. Seal any cracks in the exterior walls and look for any other openings you may notice on the exterior. This can be cracks in your stucco or siding as well. This includes checking around areas where pipes or vents enter your property. Those often have small openings due to weather or normal wear.

If your property has a crawl space, make sure it is fully sealed with no cracks, or have it professionally inspected. If your property is already experiencing rodent problems or experienced rodent infestations in the past, we recommend first addressing rodents and eliminating any entry points for rodents first. Rodents often carry fleas with them, helping them spread. Eliminating gaps large enough for rodents to pass may already be enough to safeguard your property. If the flea problem persists, that's when a more detailed review is required or professional help is needed.

4. Second-Hand Furniture and Fabrics

Check second-hand furniture, rugs, carpets, and other fabric materials around your property. If you are purchasing or have purchased used furniture, check those items for flea eggs. Flea eggs, larvae, and pupae can stay hidden for weeks or months until they start causing you a problem.

Fleas love placing their eggs on old furniture with fabrics, but these furniture pieces become especially dangerous if acquired from a home that previously experienced a flea infestation. Larvae can bury themselves deep into the padding, fabrics, or carpets, becoming almost invisible to the naked eye.

Once that second-hand furniture enters your home, body heat, vibrations, moisture, or carbon dioxide can signal the fleas to emerge from cocoons or for them to spread. Adult fleas can jump on your pets or you. If second-hand furniture contains eggs, these may fall onto your carpet or furniture, quickly spreading the infestation. This is commonly why flea infestations caused by second-hand furniture happen only weeks after the furniture is introduced to an indoor space. Second-hand furniture may at first appear clean, but once placed in a warmer environment, those growing fleas will jump into action.

Solution: We encourage you to pay close attention to second-hand items like used couches, recliners, rugs, mattresses, pet beds, blankets, and chairs. These items are common carriers of fleas hidden within them. Items from garage sales, flea markets, and thrift shops need to be carefully inspected.

Before bringing any second-hand furniture into your home, carefully inspect it outside your indoor space. Vacuum all surfaces thoroughly to eliminate or suck out flea eggs. Also, wash any removable covers or fabrics in hot water and dry on high heat.

5. Clothing and Shoes

You will be surprised, but fleas can also travel on clothing and shoes. While this occurs less commonly, you can still unknowingly bring fleas into your indoor space. Fleas are excellent jumpers. Nothing stops them from jumping onto your clothing and waiting on you to bring them inside, as they don't need a host right away.

Fleas can jump on your pants, shoes, coats, scarves, bags, gloves, or backpack when you are passing through a flea-active area. This can be a walk around a park, some shaded area with grass, a barn, or an outdoor seating area. Fleas won't miss an opportunity to travel along. They will attach to you and travel indoors.

This occurs more frequently to Bakersfield residents than you might think. Due to the warmer climate in Bakersfield, fleas are present almost year-round. Outdoor work, landscape work, or yard time are quite common, where an individual can be exposed to fleas. Short outdoor walks or yard work are enough for fleas to attach and wait to get indoors. Once inside, they jump off in your entryway, mudrooms, or bedrooms, while their eggs fall on carpets, rugs, or furniture. This is why residential flea infestations often start out near the front doors or entryways of the property.

Solution: We recommend promptly washing clothes used during yard work or outdoor activity. Vacuuming entryways, entry hallways, and front door rugs frequently always helps. As a tip, wash your front door rug at least once a month.

If you are a business, employees who work outdoors or with animals may unknowingly bring fleas inside. We recommend frequently vacuuming and washing waiting areas, carpets, and fabric chairs near entrances where flea drop zones are common.

Professional Flea Control in Bakersfield with Never Pests Pest Control

Are you experiencing fleas in your Bakersfield home or business? Seeking professional help from a pest control company is required! A licensed pest control company can conduct a thorough flea inspection and safely eliminate adults, eggs, larvae, and pupae to prevent re-infestation.

Never Pests Pest Control is a local pest control company that knows exactly how to handle flea infestations and can help you avoid re-infestations in the future. We are a team of Bakersfield-based flea exterminators equipped to protect homes and businesses against fleas. We have over 25 years of experience providing pest control services to the Bakersfield community.

Our exterminators live and thrive in Bakersfield. We are locals, which means that we know exactly how to best approach your home, what solutions work in the Bakersfield climate, and how to prevent future infestations. Our team is licensed, insured, and locally experienced, providing pest control services beyond just flea control. We also offer pest control services for spiders, cockroaches, bed bugs, mosquitoes, ants, rodents, and other general pests.

If you live outside of Bakersfield, our flea control services extend throughout Kern County. No surprise charges, no hidden fees. Our pest control company uses only transparent pricing and gives you an estimate right after a thorough pest inspection.

Don't let fleas take over your home or business. Our flea extermination services are designed to eliminate fleas at every stage of their life cycle. We understand the unique challenges that Bakersfield's climate and environment present, and we have the experience and tools to handle even the most severe flea infestations.

Schedule a thorough pest inspection today and keep your property pest-free! Contact Never Pests Pest Control for professional fleas extermination in Bakersfield and throughout Kern County.

Curious to learn about other common pests in Bakersfield? Check out our other article “Top 5 Common Pests in Bakersfield”, where we explore Top 5 Pests you'll encounter in Bakersfield. This article will help you understand what to watch for and when to seek professional help.