By Diane Lynch >> IJ correspondent

The raccoons in my garden are relentlessly curious about everything that goes on here. They open my green can to see what looks good in there — yum, some wasted food will be good tonight. They clamber over the fence, knocking some of the watering cans off onto the workbench below and breaking a cherished pot or two and maybe a stray gnome. What could possibly be good about raccoons? Well, they eat rats, mice, slugs and your leftovers.

How about squirrels? Until about three years ago, I’d never seen a squirrel here, and now we have a mama that’s given birth. She’s a relentless tease toward one of my dogs, which takes the bait and goes ballistic when she appears. The other day, she was up in the oak dispersing acorns, so that’s one of the things they’re good for. Plus, they’re fun to watch cavort through the trees.

What about those pesky scrub jays that tap on my roof nearly every morning? It turns out they’re also great acorn dispersers. They can gather and plant thousands of acorns over an area of a couple of miles and then remember where about half of them are, which I consider a most impressive feat. Ever efficient, they can hold five acorns as they disperse them: three in their gular pouch and two in their beak. They plant a single acorn in each pot in my garden, where it puts down a nice taproot for a future tree. When I pull them out, they promptly plant another. Who said birds aren’t smart?

Both squirrels and jays help to plant more oaks by caching them and not retrieving all of them. Oaks are important trees in California and one might argue that they’re the best tree to have because they serve as a habitat for

so many animals and the insects that feed them.

Deer can indeed be pests. They dine on our most precious plants but will also eat poison oak. When they’re hungry and thirsty in the summer, they’ll try almost anything except hellebores, which are toxic to them. But they also poop out some nice vegetarian manure to feed said plants, along with cultivating our beds a bit. They’re pretty easy to deter by spraying any of the many deterrents available at nurseries. Be aware that it’s illegal to trap or poison deer. An 8-foot fence is probably your best deterrent.

Skunks are pretty cute until you scare one and it unleashes its bad odor. After dusk, make some noise when going outside and they’ll disappear. When they’re raising a family in the spring, you may get really lucky and see the babies frolicking together like kittens. Skunks eat mice, rats and slugs.Gophers, moles and voles can be a gardener’s nightmare. Moles are small insect eaters that burrow underground. Voles, otherwise known as meadow mice, also burrow but will eat plant roots and other vegetation, including your vegetables. Cutting back vegetation can help with control. Gophers can be really damaging to lawns and other vegetation, along with sprinkler systems. Underground fencing can exclude them. Poisons shouldn’t be used because most of them travel up the food chain. You also risk having children or pets get into it, so think hard about that one. What are they good for, you ask? Aerating the soil.

Foxes are all over Marin and are a delight to observe. Neighbors across the street had a litter born in a crawl space. They did the right thing and called WildCare (415-456-7283) for guidance. They were told to leave them alone and that they’d disperse when ready. They did in due course, but for a few weeks, we had the pleasure of seeing the kits every so often. Like most carnivores, they eat rats, mice and other small animals.

Opossums are multipurpose animals with diverse diets, including fruits, nuts, green plants, insects, snails, snakes, frogs and small mammals, such as meadow voles, mice and rats. They’ll even clean up carrion on roadsides.

Coyotes are present in most of Marin and rarely bother people, but they’re opportunists that could eat your cat or little dog if you leave them out alone after dusk. They also dine on rats, mice and other small mammals, so they’re part of nature’s extensive cleanup crew.

Sponsored by UC Cooperative Extension, the University of California Marin Master Gardeners provides science- and research-based information for Marin home gardeners. Email questions to helpdesk@marinmg.org. Attach photos for inquiries about plant pests or diseases. Please call 415-473-4910 to see when a master gardener will be at the office or drop off samples 24/7 in the sample box outside the office. To attend a gardening workshop or subscribe to Leaflet, a free quarterly e-newsletter, go to marinmg.ucanr.edu.