Fleas

Fleas can live on domestic dogs or cats, as well as wildlife such as rats, opossums, and foxes. Fleas normally feed on the blood of the above mammals, but if they are not available, they will feed on people. After each blood meal, a female flea lays 4-8 eggs among the host animal’s hair or bedding area, which could amount to 400-500 eggs during her life. Adult fleas look for a blood meal soon after emerging, but can survive for several months on stored fat. Once on a host, they feed, mate, and lay eggs, which could take 1-12 days to hatch. Grooming can remove up to half of them, but survivors can live about a year.