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Pawsitive Tips

By Paris Permenter & John Bigley

10 Ways to Prevent Pests Naturally

Spring means flowers, fun with Fido, and... fleas (not to mention ticks, 6. Wash Your Dog’s Bedding
ants, and plenty of other pests to bug you and your dog.) Instead of One very low cost way to control fleas in your home is to wash your
reaching for expensive chemical pesticides, consider using natural dog’s bedding every week (or even more frequently during peak flea
products that are not only a safer option for your pets but are also easy periods). Adding apple cider vinegar to the rinse is an inexpensive
on your budget. way to discourage new fleas. Is your dog’s bed on a rug that can be
laundered? Toss that in the laundry, too! Hang it all out to dry and you
Plus, you might not even need to make a special trip to the store won’t have the cost of the dryer and your dog bedding will come out
because many of these products are already in your home. Below you’ll smelling fresh as can be.
find our top 10 ways to prevent pests in your home and yard while, at
the same time, keeping your pets safe: 7. Vacuum Frequently
Frequent vacuuming of your home is one of the best ways to control
1. Prevent Ants With Vinegar fleas. You’ll remove the fleas and flea eggs from your carpet and uphol-
Worried about ants invading your pet’s bowl? A safe way to discourage stery (and think what a clean home you’ll have!)
ants is to spray the area surrounding the bowl with a 50/50 mixture of
water and white distilled vinegar.
8. Remove The Fleas From Your House
2. Prevent Fleas Naturally—And Cheaply. Once you end the day’s vacuuming, be sure to change your vacuum
bags or, even better, use a bagless vacuum that you empty in the
Sure you can find numerous flea shampoos on the market but an ex- outdoor trash after each use. It won’t help to leave the bag or canister
cellent way to kill fleas is just to use your dog’s regular shampoo. When contents inside the house or the fleas can find their way back into
you soap up your dog, leave the shampoo on a minute or two extra if circulation.
possible to help smother the fleas on his coat. Also, it helps if you can
have your dog sit in the tub of water; many fleas congregate around
his tail area and, by sitting in the tub, he’ll drown them! 9. Use Diatomaceous Earth
One of the safest ways to treat your yard is the application of Diato-
maceous Earth (often just called DE). Diatomaceous earth, which is
3. Attract And Kill Fleas Naturally With A Lamp And available at garden centers, is crushed rock that contains the fossilized
Pan Of Water remains of diatoms, an alga. The hard-shelled alga grates against the
If you don’t have small children and you can close off a room from pets fleas and kills them mechanically, not chemically. Don’t buy the DE that
at night, try this method for attracting and killing fleas. Take a small is intended for pools; it has been chemically treated and isn’t for use
table lamp and put in on the floor. Beside the lamp, place a shallow around pets. DE is easy to use by sprinkling areas in the yard where
pan filled partially with water and a few drops of dishwashing liquid. fleas are likely to congregate, such as your dog’s favorite hangouts.
Wear a filter mask when spreading the fine powder and keep your dog
At night, turn on the lamp and shut the door. The heat from the lamp inside while treating the yard.
will attract the fleas, they’ll fall into the slightly soapy water, and
drown. You don’t want to use this if the device is in a room that can be 10. Use Beneficial Nematodes
accessed by small kids or pets because of the danger of the light get- A natural way to treat your yard is by using beneficial nematodes,
ting knocked into the water pan. microscopic round worms that are safe for your family and your pets.
Along with fleas, nematodes kill weevils, craneflies, grubs, corn borers,
4. Kill Fleas With Banana Peels and other vegetable garden pests. The nematodes are microscopic so
Yes, this one sounds a little wacky, but banana peels tossed on the you won’t see them; you’ll purchase them on a small sponge (costing
floor will kill fleas (we understand it’s the potassium in the bananas about $15-$20) which contains about one million live nematodes,
that does the trick). You might have to tuck the peels away if your dog enough for about 3,000 square feet of yard space.
tries to eat them or place them in rooms your dog doesn’t have access
to at the time. This is a cheap, natural way to kill fleas (and think of the After soaking the sponge in water, you’ll spray the yard with the
fun you’ll have making banana pudding and bread!) Once the peels mixture. You can purchase the nematodes as far in advance as about a
turn black, toss them out and start all over! week prior to the yard application; just keep the package in the refrig-
erator until you are ready to use it.
5. Prevent Fleas With Rosemary
To use rosemary as a flea preventative, first make a rosemary tea. Add With a little extra thought, you can keep your yard and home free from
one teaspoon of chopped rosemary to a pint of near-boiling water, let pests—and free for you and Fido to enjoy some spring fun!
the mixture simmer, then remove the mixture from the heat and allow
it to cool for several hours until it is room temperature. Next, wash your Reprinted with Permission 2018
dog with his normal shampoo. After rinsing, use the rosemary tea as a petsafe.com
final rinse. It will discourage fleas and your dog will have a flea preven-
tative that smells nice!

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