LESLIE: Alright. Well, Rick in Texas listens to The Money Pit on WFNC. And it seems like you’ve got some unwanted visitors in the front yard. Tell us about it.
RICK: Well, I have five dogs, five cats and three horses. (laughing) My own little Noah’s ark going on here.
TOM: (chuckling) Okay.
RICK: The problem I’m having is in our front yard, where the dogs go out are … seem to have a flea infestation. And, of course, they’re bringing them inside the house. And just need to know what I can do to try to control them that won’t really harm the animals or my lawn.
LESLIE: Hmm. So are you looking for an environmentally sound answer or are you looking for something toxic?
RICK: Something that’ll kill the fleas. (chuckling)
TOM: Just make them go away.
RICK: Exactly.
TOM: Yeah, we get less green at that point (laughing), when we’re inconvenienced, you know?
RICK: Well, it is “technically” … it is brown a lot, too.
TOM: (overlapping) (chuckling) Give me some chemicals.
LESLIE: Well, there’s actually … it seems to be that there are large infestations of fleas outside; so much so that a website called pestproducts.com has an outdoor flea kit. And it’s applied through a hose and sprayer and, basically, the kit will cover a thousand square feet of area; and it’s used for, pretty much, heavy infestation. And it combines two chemicals, Permethrin Pro and Nylar; and those are really needed to combat heavy infestation. And the directions are to apply it every 14 days, two or three times; and that should really nip the flea problem in the bud.
TOM: And there’s another natural solution – and they’re actually worms; they’re called nematodes. They’re little microscopic worms that prey on the larvae of the fleas themselves. You can get those at most garden centers. And a small can of those things carries like a hundred million of the worms. And then they could be spread in the yard, maybe after you get it under control with the chemicals. And then on an ongoing basis, hopefully, that will keep the flea population down. And that, in addition to whatever flea treatment your veterinarian recommends for your animals, ought to get this under control and have you scratching a lot less inside the house. (laughing)
RICK: Definitely. We’re controlling it with shampoos and the stuff behind their necks on the (inaudible) …
TOM: Right.
RICK: … but like, say we control them, then a couple of weeks later they’re just back again.
TOM: Yeah. Well, I think a good attack on this yard is going to make a big difference and there’s two ways to approach it. Okay?
RICK: And that was nematodes?
TOM: Nematodes. Yes, they’re little worms; you can get them at garden stores.
RICK: Okay, thank you very much.
LESLIE: Alright. Good luck.
TOM: You’re welcome, Rick. Thanks for checking in from Texas. This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
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