Yellow Jackets & Wet Food, Avon Skin So Soft Bug Repellent

feralcat6

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I would like to know if anyone has a solution for keeping yellow jackets at bay from wet food bowls. They are harassing one of my colony

members in her attempts to consume the food. Is serving dry food the only option that I have at this time of year? Also, being eaten up by

mosquitos, fleas etc. in the woods where I feed. I just purchased Avon Skin So Soft Bug Repellent with Picaridin. I am still somewhat

fearful applying it near thye cats for some want to rub  up against me. Any alternatives or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.
 

msaimee

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Where is the feeding station, and how large is it? Every year or two I have my exterminator spray my property, including my porch where I feed my feral, because otherwise I would have a huge wasp and yellow jacket problem. He also sprays inside my house where my indoor cats reside, around the windows. Once the spray dries it's not toxic to the cats, and I've never had a problem with any of my cats getting sick from it, and the spray does keep the bugs away. You might want to talk to an exterminator about whether or not spraying the area around your feeding station would be a feasible solution, and whether it would be safe for the cats. I don't think commercial pesticides would work for any length of time, and I'm not sure how safe they would be for the cats. The only other solution is to feed the cats wet food before the yellow jackets are active, in the early morning and late evening.    
 

StefanZ

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Also, being eaten up by
mosquitos, fleas etc. in the woods where I feed. I just purchased Avon Skin So Soft Bug Repellent with Picaridin. I am still somewhat

fearful applying it near thye cats for some want to rub  up against me. Any alternatives or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.
This question is about  protection for yourself?

You get some protection from insects by eating garlic.  It may be garlic oil in capsules, or food containing much garlic.  Perhaps tzatziki as an example.

There are some who tells garlic protects cats too.   Thay say it needs to be quite a lot  of garlic to be really poisonous for cats.  

And it may be true, as there are quality cat foods with the flavor of garlic.  So garlic isnt that high poisonous for cats as its thought.

Still,  I wouldnt dare to recommend giving cats a diet containing garlic enough to propell off insects...  I wouldnt.

Yellow jackets is some sort of wasp, yes?

Good luck!
 

peaches08

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You need to find the yellow jacket nest and eliminate it.  They usually burrow in the ground.  Mosquitos like standing water, so dealing with those kinds of areas may help.  However, both of these pests will travel distances for food, so even if you take care of your property, you have the neighbors to contend with. 

I remember people used to feed garlic in high quantities to horses, and I've never seen it work.  They just reek of garlic.

Is the food low carb?  I wonder if it's the sugar they're after?
 

msaimee

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I wouldn't recommend trying to eliminate a nest of yellow jackets yourself unless you have experience doing that sort of thing. It could be very dangerous for you, especially if you have an allergic reaction to insect stings. If you can afford to get an exterminator to assist you, that would be ideal, but don't attempt to do something like that by yourself.
 

peaches08

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There's also yellow jacket traps that you can set some distance away from the feeding station that may help.  You want to attract the yellow jackets away from the feeding stations, so don't put them next to the stations.
 
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feralcat6

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Thanks to all who have replied. I spoke to a rep at Avon whom could not tell me whether Skin So Soft was safe to use around cats. She recommended

I consult with a vet first. 90% of the ingredients used are not listed on the bottle, thus they are mailing me the list. Right now, I am not too optmistic

of the findings. As for the wasps problem, I staged just dry food yesterday and it seemed to help a little bit with problem. These particular stinging

insects are particularly stressful to the cats. I can easily see as to why. I may try placing used cans of cat food a distance away from the food

dishes and see if that will divert their attention. Stefan, yellow jackets are similar to wasps, yet not quite as ominous. Thanks again for your suggestions,

they are most appreciated.
 

peaches08

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I've never had good luck with Avon SOS.  It's greasy and repels flies until you start sweating, and with sport horses that's in about 5 minutes.  It doesn't repel wasps of any kind. Actually, it may attract them.
 

old cat lady

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Avon SSS works as a mosquito repellent. It is quite oily. I used to sell Avon and I actually had several men buying the SSS to use when fishing. They swore by it.
 

red top rescue

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Yellow jackets are meat eaters.  They want the wet food.  I agree with @MsAimee that the best thing to do is feed wet food when they are not yet active, i.e. early morning and late evening.  Remove any wet food that is not consumed within a few minutes and just leave dry food.  Flies will usually spoil wet food by laying their eggs in it quite quickly, so you cannot leave it down during the warm months. Flies and yellow jackets are active in the sunny part of the day.

As for your own protection from insects, I highly recommend something high in DEET, such as Deep Woods Off (25% DEET) or Backwoods Cutters insect repellant spray.  Spray it on and once it has dried on you, it will repel insects for hours including mosquitoes and chiggers.  It would not stop an angry yellow jacket but it does discourage any insect that wants to dine on your blood.  For all day spent in the woods, I use Repel 100 (100% DEET) but you don't need that much for just a couple of feeding times.
 

old cat lady

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Do you by any chance have a nest of the yellow jackets? I do know they are inactive during the evening cause that's the time I spray any nest cause they are all in there for the night. You can kill a lot at that time. Then I whack the nest down and smash it otherwise others will use it the next day. Wasp and bee sprays come out in a stream so you can stand far away from the nest when you spray .
 

old cat lady

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SSS works best for mosquitoes not bees really. I used to spray it in my hand then apply it to myself that way you don't use as much and you don't get too greasy. I'm not sure about cats though especially ferrels unless they let you hold them. I wouldn't just spray it all over them. If you were to put it on them I would put it on the back of the their neck like flea products if they will let you. I would definitely try putting a used can farther away to entice them. I've always heard they are somewhat aggressive but I don't speak from experience.
 

catapault

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The advice to put out wet food early and late in the day is the best. The yellow jackets and wasps are less active when it is cooler.

This seems to be an especially bad summer as far as yellow jackets and wasps are concerned. I have a couple of stories I could share but I think we all have them.
 
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