A peaceful Central California residential street lined with single-family homes — Los Altos, California service area

Flea & Tick Elimination

Flea & Tick Control in Los Altos, CA

Name: 101 Exterminators Inc.
Address: 635 Sanborn Pl Ste 12, Salinas, CA, 93901, US
Telephone: (831) 500-1613
Price range: $$
Rating: 5

101 Exterminators provides flea and tick control in Los Altos for the interior, the yard and the crawl space underneath, licensed in California under SPCB Lic. #9119 since 2005. Cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) turn up here whether or not there is a pet in the house, because opossums and raccoons carry them under raised ranch floors. Ticks are a separate exposure, and that one starts on the trail.

(831) 500-1613Free pest evaluation · no obligation

Local Context

The Flea Population Under a Los Altos House Has a Host That Never Moves Out

Cat fleas do not need your dog. The reservoir in Los Altos is wildlife — opossums, raccoons and ground squirrels moving through yards nightly along the street canopy and the Adobe Creek and Hale Creek corridors. A raised-floor ranch with a broken sub-area vent screen or a hatch left ajar gives those animals a dry, dark, protected place to den directly beneath the floor, and flea eggs and larvae accumulate in the dry soil down there. That population keeps producing regardless of what is on the pet.

The life cycle explains almost every treatment failure people describe. Eggs fall off a host wherever it rests and larvae develop in protected, dry debris — carpet fibers, pet bedding, sub-area soil, the shaded strip along a side yard. Pupae can sit and wait. Treating the animal removes the adults on the animal and touches none of that, which is why bites continue after a month of pet product and why a single interior spray does not hold either.

Ticks have their own geography here, and it is not the yard. Western black-legged ticks (Ixodes pacificus) and Pacific Coast ticks (Dermacentor occidentalis) sit on grass stems and leaf-litter edges waiting for something to brush past. That means the trail margins people walk west of town at Rancho San Antonio and Hidden Villa, and the oak-woodland edges above Foothill Expressway. They are picked up at the vegetation edge, carried home, and found later. Yard work for ticks targets the shaded margins and the fence line, not the open lawn where they were never going to be.

How We Work in Los Altos

We inspect the interior, the yard and the entry points to find where eggs and pupae are actually concentrated before treating. Inside, an adulticide paired with an insect growth regulator goes at pet resting areas, carpet edges, under furniture and along baseboards. Outside we treat the shaded margins — under decks, along fence lines, the side yard where wildlife travels. On raised-floor Los Altos houses we go into the crawl space to find the denning site and the open vent that allowed it, and exclusion follows so the reservoir cannot restock.

Los Altos Climate

Los Altos has a warm Silicon Valley climate with summer temperatures reaching 84–92°F and mild winters with 15–17 inches of rainfall. Its central valley position gives it consistent temperatures without the hillside extremes of Los Gatos or Saratoga. The mature tree canopy throughout the city creates a slightly cooler, more humid microenvironment at the street level that maintains Argentine ant activity and soil moisture year-round.

Housing Stock

Los Altos is defined by its 1950s–1960s ranch homes on well-maintained lots throughout virtually the entire city. These homes — now 60–70 years old — represent the heart of the drywood termite risk in Los Altos: original wood framing, original window trim and exterior siding, and crawl spaces that have been aging for decades. Custom and newer construction exists in smaller quantities near the hills adjacent to Los Altos Hills.

Why Local Expertise Matters

Los Altos' uniformly established 1950s–1960s housing stock means the entire city faces a similar generation of termite vulnerability simultaneously — we see this reflected in the consistent inspection findings throughout the city. Our 20 years of service in Los Altos gives us a thorough understanding of where drywood termite activity concentrates in this specific housing era.

Warning Signs

Signs You Need Fleas & Ticks Service in Los Altos

Inside the home we pair an adulticide with an insect growth regulator, which keeps eggs and larvae from ever reaching the breeding stage. Outside we treat the shaded ground where larvae survive, plus the fence lines, wood piles, and crawl space openings that wildlife uses as a highway. Tick work concentrates on the boundary between mowed yard and unmanaged brush, since that strip is where questing ticks meet people and dogs. We also walk the property for the entry points that keep bringing fleas back, and we explain what your veterinarian needs to handle on the animal, because the environment and the pet only work when they are handled together.

Pets scratching or chewing at the base of the tail, the belly, and behind the ears

Flea dirt in pet bedding: dark pepper-like specks that turn rust red on a damp paper towel

Bites in tight clusters on ankles and lower legs, usually a few in a row

Small dark insects that disappear into carpet pile the moment you part the fur

A burst of biting a day or two after a vacation, or on the first day in a vacant rental

Fleas in a home with no pets, which usually points to wildlife living under the structure

Ticks found on a dog after time in the yard rather than after a hike

An attached tick on a family member, or a rash, fever, or joint ache in the weeks after a bite

How It Works

Our Fleas & Ticks Process in Los Altos

Every job follows the same methodical approach — no shortcuts, no guesswork. Here is what to expect when you work with us in Los Altos.

Inspection & Source Identification

We look for flea dirt where it collects, check crawl spaces and the shaded ground under decks and hedges, and note where opossums, raccoons, and ground squirrels are moving through the property. For ticks we walk the line where kept lawn meets brush, since that strip carries most of the exposure. What the inspection turns up sets the treatment, rather than a standard package set in advance.

Interior Treatment

Interior work pairs an adulticide for the fleas you can see with an insect growth regulator for the ones you cannot. The growth regulator keeps eggs and larvae from developing into breeding adults, and it goes where eggs settle: carpet, the base of upholstered furniture, pet resting spots, and along baseboards. On hard floors we work the edges and cracks, where debris feeds developing larvae.

Yard & Property Edge

Flea larvae do not survive in open sun, so yard treatment targets shade: under decks and stairs, beneath dense shrubs, along the north side of the house, and wherever the dog lies down. Tick treatment follows a different line, the border where mowed yard gives way to tall grass, leaf litter, and brush. Treating the whole lawn misses both.

Pet Coordination & Follow-Through

Treating the house without the animal, or the animal without the house, puts you back where you started. We coordinate timing so your veterinarian's product goes on the pet the same day we treat, and we walk you through the vacuuming schedule that pulls pupae out of the carpet. Vacuuming does more than clean here, since the warmth and pressure signal cocooned adults to emerge onto treated surfaces.

Why 101 Exterminators

Fleas & Ticks You Can Count On in Los Altos

Growth Regulator in the Plan

An adulticide handles the fleas jumping today. The insect growth regulator works on the eggs and larvae buried in carpet and yard shade, which is where the great majority of the population is sitting at any moment.

Yard and Property Edge Treated

Indoor-only treatment leaves the outdoor source running. We treat the shaded ground where flea larvae survive and the brush line where ticks wait for a host to walk by.

Wildlife Source Assessment

Homes along open space, creek corridors, and farm edges get fleas delivered by opossums, raccoons, and ground squirrels. We find the openings those animals are using and tell you what needs closing.

Coordinated With Your Veterinarian

We time the visit around the product your vet has prescribed, and you get written prep and re-entry steps so the two halves of the job line up instead of canceling each other out.

Common Questions

Flea & Tick Control FAQs for Los Altos

We treat our dog every month, so why does our Los Altos house still have fleas?

Because most of the population is not on the dog. Adults on a pet are a small fraction of a flea infestation — the eggs, larvae and pupae are in carpet fibers, pet bedding, upholstery and, on a raised-floor house, the sub-area soil underneath. Pet product kills what bites the pet and nothing developing in the environment. Effective treatment covers the interior, the yard margins and the crawl space at the same time, with an insect growth regulator so the juveniles never reach breeding age.

Can fleas be living under my Los Altos house even though we have no pets?

Yes, and it is a common finding here. Cat fleas use opossums, raccoons and ground squirrels as hosts, and a raised-floor crawl space with a damaged vent screen is prime denning space for those animals. Eggs and larvae build up in the dry soil below the floor, and adults follow warmth and vibration up through floor gaps and around plumbing penetrations. We look for the den, treat the sub-area, and then screen the vents so the next animal cannot move in.

Should we be checking for ticks after walking the Rancho San Antonio trails?

Yes — check people and dogs after every walk, especially along the ears, neck, groin and between the toes on a dog. Ixodes pacificus and Dermacentor occidentalis wait on grass and brush at trail margins, so staying to the center of the path and keeping dogs out of tall grass reduces contact. Remove any attached tick promptly with fine-point tweezers, pulling straight out. Ask your veterinarian about a tick preventive for the dog, and talk to your doctor about any bite on a person.

Local Pest Pressure

Common Pests We Treat in Los Altos

Every area has its own pest profile shaped by climate, housing, and geography. These are the pests we see and treat most often in Los Altos — tap any one to learn how to identify it and what treatment involves.

Drywood Termites

1950s–1960s ranch homes throughout Los Altos have original wood framing that is now 60–70 years old — prime territory for established drywood termite colonies

Argentine Ants

Supercolonies extend throughout the fully-developed residential grid, supported by the consistently irrigated landscaping that maintains soil moisture year-round

Roof Rats

Dense mature urban tree canopy throughout Los Altos provides widespread arboreal rat habitat with direct roofline access to older homes via overhanging branches