Fun Flea Facts

Everyone knows fleas aren´t fun.
However, here are some flea facts that will amaze you!

• Flea fossils date back to the Lower Cretaceous period, meaning fleas have been around for about 100 million years. At that time, fleas may have infested a Tyrannosaurus Rex or Triceratops!



• Fleas can jump up to 150 times their own length. To put that into perspective, if a human competed in the Olympic long jump with that ability, that athlete would certainly win the gold medal with a gravity-defying 1,000 foot long jump.



• On average, a flea´s lifespan is two to three months. However, pre-emerged fleas (not living on a pet) can survive undisturbed and without a blood meal for more than 100 days.



• The female flea can lay 2,000 eggs in her lifetime.



• The female flea consumes 15 times her own body weight in blood daily.



• The largest recorded flea is the North American Hystrichopsylla schefferi. Found in beavers, it can measure 12mm in length - almost 1/2-inch!



• A flea can bite 400 times a day!. That´s a rate of 4,000 bites a day if your pet has just 10 fleas.