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Look for goose repellents that contain the ingredient methyl anthranilate. This is a natural chemical found in grape juice. In human food, it’s often used as grape flavoring. With geese, it’s highly irritating. Grape Kool-Aid contains methyl anthranilate, the active ingredient in most bird repellents. It won’t harm geese, but it will deter them.

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.

Rocks are less likely to attract snakes and other critters because their prey (termites, ticks, and other insects) don’t usually inhabit this environment. However, if you have placed together rocks with large spaces in between or near a source of water, you may find a snake or an occasional chipmunk seeking shelter.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fleas can carry human disease-causing pathogens for Plague, Flea-borne typhus, and Cat scratch disease. These diseases are caused by fleas such as Oropsylla montana, Xenopsylla cheopis, and Ctenocephalides felis, and are commonly found in rural areas of the western United States, California, Texas, and Hawaii. Fleaborne parasites like tapeworms can also be spread to people and animals if they accidentally swallow an infected flea, and small children are at a higher risk. Symptoms may not be present in most infected people.