Beech Tree News Network

Have you ever experienced a flea infestation?  In your house?  If there is someone on your list that you particularly dislike and wish to heap vengeance upon, fleas are the way to go.  Over the Memorial Day holiday, while all of our friends were swimming and enjoying cook-outs, Garey and I were fighting a flea infestation at our house.  We sent our daughter and granddaughter away for the weekend, because we knew it would take industrial strength chemicals to get rid of the pests.  We also put all three cats outside—even though we were pretty sure it was our big furry cat, Dougle, who brought the plague upon us—and that is where they will remain. 

Garey went to the local stores and bought flea spray and bug bombs.  I told him to make sure he got Raid flea spray in the purple can.  He came back with Hot Shot flea spray in the purple can, because all of the stores were out of Raid in the purple can.  I was somewhat comforted by the fact that we had other “brothers in arms” fighting the same war.  Garey also picked up some Permectrin—it’s similar to the parasite-killer used on cattle—to put into the mop water he was going to use on the tile and linoleum. 

We carried our granddaughter’s toys from the living room into the sunroom—the only room that wasn’t infested—and sealed the stuffed animals in black trash bags.  We removed couch covers, throws, and blankets, and I started one of what would become twelve loads of laundry.  The thing about fleas is that they lay eggs on everything.  While the washer was going, we moved furniture and mopped every visible inch of tile and linoleum. We sprayed the furniture and carpets as I kept a steady flow of laundry going from the washer to the dryer.  How could something so small cause so much aggravation?

Somewhere in the midst of this process, I began to feel myself start to lose touch with reality—it could have been the chemical fumes, but was more than likely a big dose of righteous indignation.  I had a vision of myself holding the writer of “Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff” in a headlock and dragging him to my house just to see how long he lasted with those fleas before he broke a sweat.

We made plans to stay with our friend, Rick, while the bug bombs did their thing, which took about four hours.  When we returned, Garey had me walk around and stand in the problem areas to see if there were any stragglers.  He wasn’t being insensitive, I’m one of those people who naturally attracts insects.  If there is a flea in the house, it will jump on me.  I’ve been bitten so many times in my lifetime that I’ve noticed that fleas bite in a pattern on human skin.  They bite three times in a row, either vertically, horizontally or diagonally.  It’s as if they’re playing tic-tac-toe.

I stood in the problem area and, sure enough, a couple of fleas (who had obviously been wearing hazmat suits) jumped onto my ankles.  Garey sprayed my ankles and the surrounding area.  At that point, he could have sprayed my face and I wouldn’t have noticed.  It took two more sprayings before we finally got rid of the little buggers.  When the process was complete, my house was in pristine condition.  It has never been cleaner.

I’m convinced that if God had substituted fleas for frogs on His plague list, Moses and the Children of Israel would have gotten to leave Egypt a good two weeks before they did.