Fierce Fleas

Flea Facts
When the weather turns warm, everybody comes out to play. And that includes most of the world's 1,350 varieties of fleas, which prefer temperatures of 80 to 85 degrees, and humidity of 75 percent to 85 percent.

By the time you've read this, a host of the little critters could be reading this over your shoulder. The familiar cat flea, which is found on both cats and dogs, has a vertically flattened body (for easy travel between hairs), 1/16th to 1/8th-inch long, with three sets of legs. Its spring-like hind legs can propel it 7 feet up or 13 feet forward. With the same capability, a human could jump 250 feet up or 450 forward.