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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.

For the most part, goats are friendly and won’t charge at you, but there are exceptions to this rule, as there are with any animal handling practices. Typically, goats don’t attack unless they feel threatened. Avoid cornering or rough handling goats to avoid getting head-butted, bitten, or kicked, and always supervise goats when they’re near children or pets.

Badgers have a strong sense of smell, so it’s possible you can deter them with strong scents, such as applying citronella oil to the bottom of your fence, adding crushed scotch bonnet peppers sprinkled throughout your garden, or mixing both of these into a solution to spray around your home and garden.

Like many animals, gophers are bothered by strong scents. Peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil,  and coffee grounds can be used as deterrents against these pests. Similarly, you can try planting lavender, rosemary, sage, geraniums, or pine trees, as these plants all have strong smells that can ward away gophers. While it may be less pleasant to work with, coyote urine scares gophers by tricking the pests into thinking your yard is a predator hot spot.