The colder winter months may not be your favorite part of the year, but most household pets look upon them as the flea free time. Up and coming, whether they like it or not is "flea season." This catch-all default phrase used by pet care professionals covers the time of year when it's not freezing. The fleas that will soon pester your pets are outside right now, patiently waiting for the thaw and the promise of longer, warmer days and your dog or cat ambling by.

Most are taking the cold in stride as a dormant larva or pupa, but when it starts to warm up, their alarm clock goes off, development continues and pretty soon you have a bunch of biting adults! This is where you can intercede and prevent the dormant phases from ever reaching adulthood. You don't have to dump pounds of insecticide on your property, you just need beneficial predators to do the work for you!

Beneficial Nematodes (again not the plant damaging kind) give excellent control in killing the developmental stages of the fleas' lifecycle. This time you'll be using a different species, though, called Steinernema. Simply spray them on the lawn, gravel and dirt areas, or any loose surface where fleas breed (and your pet walks.)

As with most biological control regimens, preventative measures give a higher degree of control, so treating the areas before your pets are plagued with fleas is the best way to go. It happens every year. Why should this year be any different? Your pets are depending on you to do the right thing, so use the Good Bugs and get the jump on flea control.