Flea Collection

Here are some of the fleas that I caught while I was in Chile. They appear slightly bigger than they actually are, but they still had a nasty bite! Upon catching them and sticking them in my scrapbook, I would write a short description of the capture. All the information and the fleas themselves can be found below.

18 November 1996 - Buin

I found this guy on my leg.

26 November 1996 [11:45 pm] - Buin

I caught this one thanks to the fact that my flea troubled roommate for some reason up and left his flea coated pijamas on my bed.

27 November 1996 [8:00 am] - Buin

After hanging up my blankets outside so the fleas would leave, I found this one on my toe.

30 November 1996 - Buin

While lecturing my flea infested roommate about fleas and how to prevent their transfer to others, I looked down to see this one on my shirt.

15 December 1996 - Buin

Resting on my bed, I found him on my elbow.

5 January 1997 - Alto Jahuel

I went to get my pants off of the hanger and he was on one of the adjacent shirts.

10 January 1997 - Alto Jahuel

I went to put on my shirt (from hanger) and he jumped from it and onto me.

11 January 1997 - Alto Jahuel

I took off my shirt and there he was.

12 January 1997 - Alto Jahuel

I went to get my shirt and there he was.

19 January 1997 - Alto Jahuel

I was seated and writing in my journal, he was on my leg.

20 May 1997 - La Granja

While putting in my contacts, I spotted him on my hand.

29 May 1997 - La Granja

I sat down to study, he was on my arm.

9 June 1997 - La Granja

Found him on my arm.

Just how did I catch these fleas?

Well, the story begins when I saw my first flea. (I had been in Chile for more than a year before I saw my first flea.) I thought it was just an ordinary old bug. I went to brush it off, and it jumped. Wow! This guy is a flea. I had heard of them and had seen their bites on others, but I had never seen an actual flea.

I learned that they like to jump and that they are close to indestructible. I found that I couldn't squish them with my fingers. So the natural choice was to catch them and preserve them for future generations. (Or start my own flea circus)

Once I would spot them I would swiftly grab them in between my thumb and pointer fingers. I learned that when held tightly there, they couldn't bite me. The next trick was to transfer the flea from my fingers to a piece of scotch tape. Carefully I would roll my fingers to place the flea between my finger and the tape. More than once this is where the flea would jump to freedom. However, in keeping it under constant pressure I often succeeded in trapping it in the tape. Sounds like fun? It beat the alternative of being eaten alive by a bug the size of a pin head.

Lucky for me, the fleas must not have liked the way I tasted because I never had many bites. I lived with guys that would wake up in the morning with hundreds of flea bites.

Please Note:

Chile is not a flea ridden country! Odds are you won't see a single one on your next visit.