Ooooh Yes!!
Hi Rachel,
Unfortunately this is a topic I have become somewhat of an expert on because both of our historic house museums have had more flea infestations than I can count at this point. I'm happy to talk directly, but I wanted to reply to the group because when I first encountered this issue I also found almost no information on fleas in museums on any of the museum forums.
The key points of attack to eradicate your infestation are:
- Identify any points of entry for hosts. We partner with a local wildlife company in the DFW area that has installed mechanisms to eliminate points of entry for hosts. In our cases, raccoons & rats gain entry through cavities in the structures and then continue to gain access to the interior spaces in the houses due to the balloon style architecture. Eliminating the hosts is really step one because if you're treating the fleas themselves but not removing access for the hosts the fleas will just keep showing up.
- Fleas cannot survive in certain environmental conditions, specifically below 45% humidity and above 120 degrees F. We use dehumidifiers throughout our historic houses particularly in the damper months for our region (March 1 to November 30). There was one summer we turned off the HVAC units in the historic house altogether so that the heat would interrupt the flea lifecycle.
- When treating for the fleas, make sure to use a product that contains methoprene, an insect growth regulator that stops eggs and larvae from growing. We take a bit of a scorched earth approach when treating for fleas in the historic house museums. Collections are kept as safe as possible, but as you pointed out there is a concern the fleas could be in the fiber-based or fiber-heavy items in the collection. We do not use the foggers but instead an aerosolized spray that we apply to the floors thoroughly (and while wearing PPE) and then let sit for 24 hours. When there is an active infestation, we vacuum 24 hours post-spray application everyday for 2 weeks straight.
There are other tips and tricks we employ, but what I listed above covers the key components of getting the infestation under control. I'm happy to answer any other questions you or others have on this topic. This is not something I ever thought I would become an expert on when I entered the museum field a couple decades ago.
Best,
JAN
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Jan Masterson
Curator of Collections & Exhibits
Historic Mesquite, Inc.
Mesquite, TX
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