Fleas as Household Pests [essay]

Title

Language

English

Source

The Young Citizen : the magazine for young people 3 (8) September 1937

252

Year

1937

Subject

Fleas

Pests

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

252 THE YOUNG CITIZEN September, 1987 Fleas As Household Pests We all like to have dogs and cats at home as pets. But sometimes they may keep in their bodies tiny creatures that may harm members of the family. These are fleas that live on and suck the blood of animals. They transfer human diseases from lower animals. The fleas may leave the dog or cat arid go to the persons living in the house and try to suck blood from them. There are several kinds of fleas. One kind lives on rats. If the rat dies the flea has to find some other animal from which it may suck blood for food. When the fleas are thus forced to leave the rat they are not always able to find another rat so sometimes they get on persons and .mmetimes they carry from the rat to the per.'ion a very dangerous disease called bubonic plague. So when a rat is killed in your home either by your cat or by yourself. it should be buried or burned immediately before any of the fleas leave it, for the fleas will not stay on a dead rat. Fleas ·may lay their eggs on the hair of animals, or they may lay them in cracks of the floor or in corners of th~ house where dirt has gathered. When the eggs are laid on the hair of the animals they soon drop off since they are not glued to the hair as the eggs of lice are. In this way the eggs are scattered over the holise and sw~pt into cracks and corners. They are also found on th.: floor where the dog or cat often lies. Unltss disturb~d the eggs stay there until they hotch. When we have dogs or cats about the house, we should often spray the floor with kerosene or boiling water to kill the fleas that may have been dropped by them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Interesting Places WATER FLOWERS FORTUNATO ASUNCION* Standing at the end of the road several meters from a fair-sized cylindrical reservoir, and which in fact is the edge of a hill. one's self will be filled with delight at the beautiful view below. f-cllow the water bed from the extreme left to the extreme right with your eyes, and your gaze will be met by a low-roofed concrete building. This is the filter house of the now famous Balara Filter Plant. After the water leaves this place, it is much purer and safer, the people there claim. From the middle of an ascending road. near "' Teacher, R i z a I Elementar:r School. the filter house. can be seen the beautiful water flowers. They look so pure and are indeed very <'::tractive. Arranged in several straight rows, blooming in crystalline purity. holding up their heads as if to catch thl" gentle dewdrops from th• blue sky. they sparkle in all their freshneSI.. They never wither, nor do their color fade. They are not fragrant for they are only water that assumes the shape of flowers. This flower-like water comes from a huge black pipe to which are joined several small tubes -so constructed that the water coming out resembles the morning glory flower-not in color, though, but in appearance.

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