Thanks to Lee Poulsen for the ultimate raccoon solution. How lucky gardeners are that some of us are engineers! I haven't followed this thread much, but I thought I would note that certain kinds of organic fertilizers attract carnivorous or omnivorous animals. Bone meal and fish fertilizer are particularly likely to get them digging -- and perhaps knocking over pots. Now that I have no dog, I don't always close the gates into my back yard, but losing some lily buds to deer have warned me to do so. Deer ate all the flowering stems off the camas in the front garden this spring. The gates keep out the raccoons too, I think. The only faunal problem lately was hummingbirds flying into the bulb house while I had the door open, and not being smart enough to fly back out through the door. I have had to lure them out by hanging a tempting flower stalk just outside the door. Jane McGary, Portland, Oregon, USA _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…