How Can You Tell Fleas From Other Small Biting Insects in Buckden?

Most of the time you can tell fleas from other small biting insects by three things: where on your body you are bitten, what the insect looks like if you catch one, and whether it jumps. Bites on their own are never proof, because skin reacts differently from person to person, but the pattern is a good first clue.

Start With the Map of Your Body

In an older Buckden cottage with a dog or cat, or a house that has recently changed hands, fleas are the first suspect. Flea bites are mostly low down, on the ankles, shins and calves, because that is as high as a flea easily gets from the carpet. They are small red spots, often in groups of two or three, and often have a darker dot or a pale halo at the centre.

• Ankles and lower legs: fleas, or harvest mites if you have been in long grass
• Face, neck, arms and shoulders, waking up with them: more like bed bugs or mosquitoes
• Waistband, behind the knees, tops of socks: harvest mites, or fleas if you also have a pet
• Anywhere, with no insect ever seen: hard to say, and worth a proper look rather than a guess

What a Flea Actually Looks Like

An adult flea is only a couple of millimetres long, dark reddish-brown, and flattened from side to side, so it looks thin when viewed head on. It is tough and quite hard to squash. Above all, it jumps. If a tiny dark insect vanishes the moment you reach for it, that is a strong sign. A bed bug is larger and rounder, about the size of an apple pip, and walks rather than jumping. A mosquito flies and is far bigger. A mite is usually too small to make out as an insect at all.

Checks You Can Do This Evening

1. Pull on a pair of white socks and walk slowly across the carpet, particularly where the pet sleeps. Look for tiny dark specks that hop onto the fabric.
2. Comb the pet over a white sheet of paper. Black grit that smears rusty red when you dampen it is flea dirt, which is digested blood.
3. Look along the seams of the mattress and the headboard for dark spots or small, pale, shed skins, which would point to bed bugs instead.

When to Get It Confirmed

If the checks do not give a clear answer, a pest inspection and survey at £120 fixed cost tells you what you have and how far it has spread before you pay for any treatment. If it is fleas, our flea control service is £220 for the first room and £60 for each additional room, with no call-out fee. The flea treatment cost guide explains what that covers. Every treatment is guaranteed, so if the problem returns within 14 days we come back and re-treat free of charge.

A Note on Older Buckden Houses

In a period cottage near the old village core, gaps beneath floorboards and around fireplaces give fleas and other insects somewhere to hide that a modern carpet-and-concrete floor would not. If you have recently bought or rented in Buckden, ask whether the previous occupants kept animals. It is a surprisingly useful question when you are trying to work out where the insects came from.

Whatever you decide, do not vacuum or wash the carpet after a treatment for at least two weeks. If you would like a second opinion on what you are finding in Buckden, call 01223 902388 or message us on WhatsApp.