I've been finding mice in the yard lately with their face ripped off, but otherwise intact.

Not sure what the hell that's about?

Seriously, I've had more than my share of infestations of spiders, snakes and wasps! 

Deadly Spiders: When I was staying in a city north of Sydney, AU, the infestation of Red Back and Funnel Web spiders was unsettling one or two came in the house, more we're in the garage.  
In a neighboring suburb a family with kids lived in terror and literally had to vacate 'completely' to have the entire property inside and out, house and yard treated. Seriously! 

Deadly Snakes: In 1980 during my stay in another further off the beaten track town of Gloucester, AU, I came across a lot of Brown Snakes, near the band's rehearsal studio was a large vacant property that was infested with those deadly snakes. I didn't know about it until I spotted them as I was walking across the property. Luckily it was during winter. 

But some snakes are pretty cool; at a local hardware and supplies store the owner keeps a large pet Carpet Snake, really nice brown markings.  Anyway... new visitors would freak out at first.... awww it's a harmless pet and does a good job of guarding the grains due to minor rat infestation.  

Wasps: Last summer in Wisconsin, US, there as an annoying infestation of Wasps, the neighbors had em too. There was hundreds of them.   There was nests on the side of the front steps/patio, some came inside the house.   We removed them all, and the Wasps soon after setup another nest nearby and then another, and another.  I have never encountered such persistence.  

Heh... I actually love rodents and have kept them as pets. I do my very best not to kill them thus the elaborate deterrents (which actually is the only real way to get rid of them anyway) but once they start getting into my grub and pissing/crapping all over the place... nope, sorry mousey. You gotta go. Go be cute somewhere else.

Wow some real roach expertise here. Tell me jbow, are those roach poison dispensers (the square flat things) you buy in the drugstore basically useless, or do they make a difference? And what about those flat white things with the "capsule" of poison that you pop, and apparently when the roach walks over them they're sterilized? Useful or useless? 

I used to see the odd one in my kitchen cabinets, but I haven't for a while. Saw one the other night walk across the stove and disappear down back of it. Tis a sight that fills me with hatred for the little blighters.