Hello all.

We have a problem in our garden that is so bad now that it is preventing us from going out!

Something is biting us badly. Take yesterday for instance, our 6 year old went out into the garden for about 30 minutes with normal trousers and shirt on, so not that exposed. Later that night, we noticed that she had about 15-20 big red itchy spots all over her body. The same thing happens to me. I can go out for just 1 minute and I am attacked. It's not a midge or anything flying as it travels up the trouser leg, under arms etc.

Now we live in the country with cows and all sorts of animals just feet away the other side of the fence. We do have a cat who spends a lot of time under the seats and bushes just outside. I would assume it is cat fleas, but I didn't realise they lived outside to this degree. Both the cat and the house are regularly treated with flea treatments.

It really is as bad as I say and we are swarmed when outside.

Are there any treatments available for the garden?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

nomy writes

Hello all.

We have a problem in our garden that is so bad now that it is
preventing us from going out!

Something is biting us badly. Take yesterday for instance, our 6 year
old went out into the garden for about 30 minutes with normal trousers
and shirt on, so not that exposed. Later that night, we noticed that
she had about 15-20 big red itchy spots all over her body. The same
thing happens to me. I can go out for just 1 minute and I am attacked.
It's not a midge or anything flying as it travels up the trouser leg,
under arms etc.

Now we live in the country with cows and all sorts of animals just feet
away the other side of the fence. We do have a cat who spends a lot of
time under the seats and bushes just outside. I would assume it is cat
fleas, but I didn't realise they lived outside to this degree. Both the
cat and the house are regularly treated with flea treatments.

It really is as bad as I say and we are swarmed when outside.

Are there any treatments available for the garden?

Any advice would be appreciated.

I must admit my first reaction was 'cat fleas', but you would expect to
be attacked as much, if not more, inside than out.

I do notice that cat flea bites don't appear immediately - it's always
some time after the flea has left that the bites start to irritate (it's
possible that fleas have some anti-irritant substance in their bites, in
the same way that leeches have an anti-coagulant).

So the first thing to do is to eliminate the possibility that it's not
simply that you are receiving the bites at any time, but noticing them
after you've been outdoors.

You could also check your cat for fleas and droppings - the type of
nit-comb which has metal teeth is excellent for this.

Once you have eliminated cat fleas, then you are back to some sort of
insect/invertebrate outside.

Ridding your garden of insect/invertebrate life is not practical.

So you are down to insect repellents whenever you go out. DEET is
regarded as most effective, but you might not like applying this in
quantity to your child's skin.

Finally, if it really *is* outside, one of you venturing outside
minimally clad and keeping a good watch ought to be able to identify the
culprit ;-)
--
Kay

Quite a number of garden insects bite-flea beetles(as on cabbages, grass
etc) have a go at me, leaving a small red spot. There is a small speckled
bug slender about 1cm long that attacks when I'm picking raspberries. A
little 3mm round black beetle has a go in the summer.
From the nature of your spots I would suspect biting flies from the cattle.
Their modus operandi is rather sly and one can often be bitten without being
aware of it.
It could be your little girl has reacted badly to bites that would perhaps
only leave a small red blemish on the majority of the population.
We had severe allergy problems with one of our children, whom we had to
treat with anti histamine medication.
Regards
David T
"nomy" wrote in message
...

Hello all.

We have a problem in our garden that is so bad now that it is
preventing us from going out!

Something is biting us badly. Take yesterday for instance, our 6 year
old went out into the garden for about 30 minutes with normal trousers
and shirt on, so not that exposed. Later that night, we noticed that
she had about 15-20 big red itchy spots all over her body. The same
thing happens to me. I can go out for just 1 minute and I am attacked.
It's not a midge or anything flying as it travels up the trouser leg,
under arms etc.

Now we live in the country with cows and all sorts of animals just feet
away the other side of the fence. We do have a cat who spends a lot of
time under the seats and bushes just outside. I would assume it is cat
fleas, but I didn't realise they lived outside to this degree. Both the
cat and the house are regularly treated with flea treatments.

It really is as bad as I say and we are swarmed when outside.

Are there any treatments available for the garden?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.


--
nomy

"nomy" wrote in message
...

Hello all.

We have a problem in our garden that is so bad now that it is
preventing us from going out!

Something is biting us badly. Take yesterday for instance, our 6 year
old went out into the garden for about 30 minutes with normal trousers
and shirt on, so not that exposed. Later that night, we noticed that
she had about 15-20 big red itchy spots all over her body. The same
thing happens to me. I can go out for just 1 minute and I am attacked.
It's not a midge or anything flying as it travels up the trouser leg,
under arms etc.

Now we live in the country with cows and all sorts of animals just feet
away the other side of the fence. We do have a cat who spends a lot of
time under the seats and bushes just outside. I would assume it is cat
fleas, but I didn't realise they lived outside to this degree. Both the
cat and the house are regularly treated with flea treatments.

It really is as bad as I say and we are swarmed when outside.

Are there any treatments available for the garden?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.


--
nomy

As K says it does sound like animal flea bites.These things lurk around
outside awaiting a host which can be any animal including you.
Pay particular attention to areas where animals lounge outside.
Cushions on outside benches are a favourite area for flea infestations.

Are there any watercourses near you? Do you live in Dorset? About this time of year blackfly emerge from rivers, and they have a nasty bite. The females fly close to the ground and specialise in biting legs. You should feel it as they bite. Also you should see the non-biting males, as they fly higher, and often swarm. There is an especially nasty blackfly breeding in the Stour in Dorset, and sometimes adjacent areas, known as the Blandford Fly: the councils have been spraying the Stour in recent years to keep it down, but of course some still get through and some populations may be missed.

Thanks for your replies. Sorry I haven't showed my appreciation earlier, only we have just returned from our holls.

Having spent the last two weeks over in Florida with all sorts of insects, I was amazed to come back unscathed, only to venture outside in the garden for 30 seconds at best and yep, I was bitten again. This time I felt something just after I came inside. I found it and it was a flea. I said we do have a cat, I should also have said there are a lot of farm cats around here which are not treated. For whatever reason, our garden appears seriously infested! Is there anything I can do out there? Is it right that cat fleas can live outside in the wet grass? I would expect a few, but have never experienced anything like this before.

Thanks.

[quote=Rupert \(W.Yorkshire\)]"nomy" wrote in message
...

Hello all.

We have a problem in our garden that is so bad now that it is
preventing us from going out!

Something is biting us badly. Take yesterday for instance, our 6 year
old went out into the garden for about 30 minutes with normal trousers
and shirt on, so not that exposed. Later that night, we noticed that
she had about 15-20 big red itchy spots all over her body. The same
thing happens to me. I can go out for just 1 minute and I am attacked.
It's not a midge or anything flying as it travels up the trouser leg,
under arms etc.

Now we live in the country with cows and all sorts of animals just feet
away the other side of the fence. We do have a cat who spends a lot of
time under the seats and bushes just outside. I would assume it is cat
fleas, but I didn't realise they lived outside to this degree. Both the
cat and the house are regularly treated with flea treatments.

It really is as bad as I say and we are swarmed when outside.

Are there any treatments available for the garden?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.


--
nomy

I've heard of this a couple of times before. The cause was harvester mites that have adapted to feeding on humans. I'd suggest you do a google search.

nomy wrote:
Having spent the last two weeks over in Florida with all sorts of
insects, I was amazed to come back unscathed, only to venture outside
in the garden for 30 seconds at best and yep, I was bitten again. This
time I felt something just after I came inside. I found it and it was a
flea. I said we do have a cat, I should also have said there are a lot
of farm cats around here which are not treated. For whatever reason,
our garden appears seriously infested! Is there anything I can do out
there? Is it right that cat fleas can live outside in the wet grass? I
would expect a few, but have never experienced anything like this
before.

Do you have floor boards and carpets? That's were the fleas are. I
don't think they're in the grass at all. You've brought some in, via a
visitor to your house, they multiplied and now you think they're in
your garden. A possibility is that you could have been 'jumped on' on
your way to the garden and got bitten once outside. A possibility, off
course. A friend of mine had an infestation like this. She had no
animals but knows lots of people with them. Just by standing in her
living room, your feet would be covered in seconds. She has floor
boards and I was surprised they lived in there. Now is the time for
fleas, when the temperature warms up. I use spot on on my two dogs and
two cats.