MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Dogs, cats and sometimes people are targets of fleas and ticks as warm weather brings out these annoying parasites.

Dr. Stanley Robertson, Extension veterinarian at Mississippi State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, said fleas and ticks are a problem from spring to early fall in Mississippi.

“These are external parasites that use animals and humans for a blood meal,” Robertson said. “Ticks and fleas can transmit diseases and animals, especially dogs, can become allergic to a protein in the flea's saliva.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Help was on the way in 2005 to northeastern Mississippi's child-care workers, teachers and parents, but when Hurricane Katrina hit, the effort to provide educational and resource materials expanded to include the devastated Gulf Coast counties.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Landscapes are starting to look great as hurricane debris is cleared and fall mums are planted. There is something to be said about the way mums change your mood and brighten the landscape.