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Keeping your pool cover clean is a good way to keep smaller animals from running across it or using it as shelter. Small animals may use leaf debris on top of the cover to hide. Cleaning also removes nuts that may fall from a nearby tree that could otherwise be a tempting snack for some animals, like squirrels. 

The truth is, there really is no such thing as a 100% deer-proof plant. Deer will decimate even the prickliest flora if they’re hungry enough. However, there are plenty of beautiful plants that deer don’t necessarily enjoy. These include thistles, wisteria vines, sword ferns, and beautyberries.

Deer are herbivores, and they love vegetable gardens as much as Peter Rabbit. If you don’t want to fence in your entire property, consider creating an attractive raised-bed veggie garden with mesh fencing around it to keep out deer and other critters.

While keeping any critter away permanently isn’t always possible, you can keep mice away from your home by setting traps, fumigating your space, and sealing known entry points. Once you’ve taken these steps, take time to work on prevention measures, such as clearing out all clutter and recyclables and removing all food sources.

Skunks spray as a defense mechanism to ward off predators. The active ingredient in their sulfurous, oily musk is n-butyl mercaptan, which evaporates into a powerful and smelly gas. Once the spray hits the skunk’s target, the stench can linger for days, and water and common cleaning kits aren’t enough to wash it away.

If you happen upon a skunk in your yard, try to back away slowly to reduce the chance of them aiming at you. Encouragingly, they don’t use their weapon casually, as it can take up to 10 days for their life-saving weaponry to refill. Paw stamping, hissing, lifting their tail, and arching their back are early signs they feel trapped or under threat and that it’s time to make a careful retreat.