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While cats are great at rodent control, it is their second nature to use the soft dirt of your garden as a litter box. This can lead to the contamination of your food and the spread of disease in humans.

If the snakes in your yard are non-venomous species (like common Rat or Garter snakes), why not consider the live-and-let-live approach? Some benefits of not getting rid of snakes include:

• They’re great at controlling disease-spreading rodent populations, including rats, mice, voles, and moles.

• Some non-venomous species (like the common kingsnake) eat venomous species like rattlesnakes and copperheads.

• Species like the garter snake keep down populations of garden pests like slugs and grasshoppers.

The laws in Florida allow residents to kill iguanas on certain public lands and on private lands with landowner permission, even without a permit. Residents are encouraged to kill iguanas, a nonnative reptile seen as a pest throughout the state. Landowners are responsible for removal. Residents are not legally allowed to possess, transport, or relocate iguanas without a permit.

Using chemicals with harsh odors is a natural way to repel bears. While the animal’s strong sense of smell is an asset in the animal kingdom, it’s a weakness here. Simply place bleach or ammonia in a bucket and leave it outside day or night. Ironically, bears also dislike the smell of pine, so you can use pine oil or a pine-based cleaning agent. Avoid using cleaning products with fruit or citrus smells, however.