Natural hazards are hardly limited to the usual suspects -- earth, wind, fire and water. As real estate developments invade the frontier of desert, prairie, mountain, forest, and bayou, the natural inhabitants "do not go gentle into that good night," to quote Dylan Thomas.

The resulting struggle for existence at this "urban-wildland interface" is increasingly played out in real estate purchase contracts, seller disclosures, and buyer advisories.

Almost as if they thought they owned the place, wildlife can endure for years amid new housing developments at the outskirts of civilization, often against seemingly impossible odds.

Put an unwary homebuyer in this under-tamed environment, and you can get a lawsuit waiting to happen, a grim tale of non-disclosure with all the innocence of Goldilocks on her inaugural forest adventure, or Little Red Riding Hood wending her wooded way to Grandma's house.

In the Gulf Coast, for example, the "gator ate family dog" report is a bit unusual. But it's not at all uncommon for a homeowner to encounter a gecko on the ceiling, a cottonmouth (water moccasin) on the doghouse, or a copperhead in the flower bed. A quick google finds lots of encounters between homeowners and native species engaged in a property dispute. In Tucson, for example, a woman pulls a weed in her yard and gets bitten by a rattler. Another woman, stepping out of her car, is bitten in the driveway (right where it hurts...rimshot, please).

(By the way, according to Wikipedia, "The easiest way to tell venomous snakes from non-venomous in North America is by the shape of their pupils...." Easy for a herpetologist, maybe, but I wouldn't recommend advising your untrained buyer of this useful fact!)

Even non-venomous snakes can entail apoplectic consequences. As "Clyde" in the Dallas area observes (in his best prairie drawl), "Well, I'm not sure there are any 'harmless' snakes. Most are not pizzen, but encountering one unexpected like can plumb scare you to death, and that isn't harmless at all...."

The brown recluse, black widow, tarantula -- spiders feared in fact and fable -- commonly co-exist in residential buildings throughout the U.S., often to the surprise of many a naive buyer.

Scorpion in the bathtub? No joke! There's even a real estate book by that title (search Amazon). And they're not just a problem in the desert Southwest. Scorpions by the dozens (and several different species of 'em) can infest homes across the Southeast, and literally come out of the woodwork (for some sobering stories, search this blog for "scorpions"). The preferred solution for scorpions: "get some chickens in the yard...cut down on the problem by 90%...much better than poisons" according to one Georgia homeowner.

(By the way, spiders and scorpions don't come up through the drain. Plumbing conditions prevent that. Some people are just loathe to admit that they actually live in their house!)

Non-disclosure litigation has become a property hazard in its own right. As the risk of litigation grows, so does the list of things "natural" that may somehow harm an unwitting buyer.

So, it's not surprising that creepy critters, increasingly, are showing up in the contract docs. Just as with environmental hazard disclosures, these "pest" disclosures protect the seller and agents in the event that the new buyer comes face-to-fang, or cheek-to-chelicera, when nature calls in the dead of night.

The Arizona Association of Realtors, for example, provides a Buyer Advisory (with a "Buyer Acknowledgment" signature section) to ensure that the would-be homeowner is aware that, "Cockroaches, rattlesnakes, black widow spiders, scorpions, termites and other pests are common in parts of Arizona. Fortunately, most pests can be controlled with pesticides. Scorpions, on the other hand, may be difficult to eliminate. If the buyer has any concerns or if the [Seller Property Disclosure Statement] indicates the seller has seen scorpions or other pests on the property, you should seek the advice of a pest control company."

Given time -- decades, sometimes -- the invading species usually wins. Humans eventually displace the native bears, cougars, snakes, lizards, frogs and other non-domesticated animals. Though not necessarily for the reason you might think.

Those native species eat smaller animals. And the smaller animals eat animals smaller still...which are vulnerable to pesticides. In our neighborhoods, with their intensely managed yards and gardens, we mow and spray, and kill the prey, and the predators up the food-chain go elsewhere, or extinct.

After a while, as the frogs and fireflies disappear, the snakes will, too...making room for the fire ants. Don't forget to add those to your disclosure.