Flea & Tick Elimination
Flea & Tick Control in San Mateo, CA
101 Exterminators handles flea and tick control in San Mateo for homes, yards and rentals, California licensed under SPCB Lic. #9119 and working since 2005. Cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) come off the yard and the pet. Western black-legged ticks (Ixodes pacificus) come off the open space on the western edge of town, around Sugarloaf and Laurelwood Park. The two need different work.
Warning Signs
Signs You Need Fleas & Ticks Service in San Mateo
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 San Mateo
Every job follows the same methodical approach — no shortcuts, no guesswork. Here is what to expect when you work with us in San Mateo.
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 San Mateo
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 San Mateo
Can we pick up ticks on the trails at the western edge of San Mateo?
Yes — the open space along the western foothills is tick habitat, including the Sugarloaf Mountain trails above Laurelwood Park. Western black-legged ticks (Ixodes pacificus) quest from leaf litter and grass at trail edges rather than out in the open, so staying to the middle of the trail cuts contact considerably. Check yourself, kids and dogs at the hairline, waistband, behind the knees and in the ears afterward. Remove an attached tick with fine-tipped tweezers, pulling straight out.
We came home to a San Mateo house full of fleas after a month away — where did they come from?
They were already in the house. Flea pupae stay dormant in carpet and floor cracks for weeks, and they emerge in response to warmth, carbon dioxide and vibration — precisely what walking back into an empty house provides. Vacant San Mateo rentals between tenants produce the same effect on move-in day. Treatment plus repeated vacuuming is what clears the remaining pupae, since no product reaches them reliably inside the cocoon.
Does treating the yard fix a flea problem in a San Mateo home?
Only if the indoor stages and the pet are handled at the same time. Fleas cycle between the animal, the indoor carpet and bedding, and shaded outdoor soil, so treating one of the three leaves the other two to restock it. Outdoors they concentrate in shade and protected ground — under decks, porches and dense shrubs — not across an open sunny lawn. Your veterinarian covers the animal; we cover the property.
Local Pest Pressure
Common Pests We Treat in San Mateo
Every area has its own pest profile shaped by climate, housing, and geography. These are the pests we see and treat most often in San Mateo — tap any one to learn how to identify it and what treatment involves.
Flea & Tick Control · San Mateo
Free Pest Evaluation in San Mateo
CA licensed and insured. Written estimate before any work begins. Urgent situations in San Mateo are prioritized.