I had a suspicion that a heron was eating my fish when I went to feed them and for a few days they would not come out. One morning I sat and watched and sure enough I heard a splash and there were two. They seemed to come at the same time each day. Early in the morning and about two o'clock. So I waited with a hose and shot at them a few times, once causing the bird to drop a fish. I then put two decoy ducks or geese in my pond and they float around slowly. I haven't had a problem since I added the decoys. My pond is about 5000 gallons with a waterfall and small bridge about four feet to walk across. I live in a suburb area so I also get quite a few raccoon's and possums but since I am the only one in my neighbor hood with a water feature I guess it's to be expected. They never go after my fish just drink a little water. Try decoy's they work very well. It has been three months and I have not lost nay more of my Koi or goldfish, and I am proud to say I have a little over 125 now ranging from 8 inches to brand new babies.

I designed, planned & planted my shade bed knowing Dicentra s. 'Alba' wouldn't put on a season-long show. By the time it finishes blooming and the foliage begins to deteriorate, other shade lovers planted nearby block the dying foliage from my view. While it's blooming, however, IMO it holds its own in the perennial shade garden long enough to justify its presence. To each his/her own preference of course. It will have its place in my garden so long as it comes up every year, which (in my experience thus far) has been reliably, for more than a decade. What more can anyone ask?

Thanks nicholsworth. I have a couple small "ponds"....just 300 gallon rubbermaid stock tanks sunk into the ground in my back yard. I don't have fish....just frogs and sometimes snakes (and water lilies and lotus). But one day as I rode up in the lane, I saw a great blue heron perched on the top of the house, looking at my little ponds! I have the feeling that raccoons visit my ponds every night. They've knocked some of the big rocks lining the edge into the water. I quit feeding birds in my back yard because the raccoons would visit and cause all sorts of ruckus and problems. They're too smart for their own good. haha I don't think I'd ever have fish out here. There's too much to worry about.....

You are not losing your mind. The paint companies create the samples and fan decks as printed materials, not from real paint. They are not 100% accurate and simply can't be 100% accurate. Painted samples also vary slightly from one another. The cans are mixed one can at a time by a different machine in every store. Those machines may be more or less accurate then the next machine, may be new or old, may have been calibrated recently or may not have been calibrated for months. On top of that paint colors change slightly as they dry. The faster paint dries the lighter it gets, so spraying paint will give you a lighter color than rolling paint and color will dry lighter when it is hot and dry then when it is cool and humid. Don't expect perfection. It will drive you crazy, and the small amount of change is only noticeable when you are looking at two samples right beside each other. You are not going to have these different whites painted in stripes on your wall, so you won't see any of these small nuances. Quite frankly, most people won't be able to tell what white you have painted on your walls and it will only look bad if it doesn't work with other whites and neutrals that you already have in your home. Chantilly Lace can be beautiful with grays or can look cold and stark with warmer tones. Oxford White has been the 'go to' white for decades. It works with most other colors, but will look dirty/dingy next to a bright white. Dove White is the newer 'go to' white, but same as Oxford White it can feel somewhat dingy in some homes, depending on how clean and bright their other colors are. SW Pure White is a very neutral white which does lean gray. It isn't you, it is the color. It is beautiful with blue and violet grays, but is often too gray with warmer tones. Simply White looks yellow when compared to these other whites or when painted next to pastel blue or violet grays, but with most green grays, greige, beige neutrals it is generally clean and warm. If you have cleaner pastel yellows it can sometime look a bit green. With each of these whites you will find 100 people who love the color on their walls and another 50 who have a problem with the color. Too gray, too yellow, flashes green, looks blue, too stark, not bright enough . . . My very favorite white is available through Benjamin Moore. They have a formula in their computer for Devine Color Icing (V0101W). It is similar to Simply White in LRV, but it is cleaner and has a slightly orange or peach undertone. Won't ever scream peach or yellow and because there is no gray or black in the formula you will never find it turning green.. The only time I don't care for Icing is when someone is using it with dark, muddy colors. It is too white, and too high contrast when paired with dark neutrals or when a home simply does not have enough natural daylight to pull off white well. Instead of looking at your samples next to each other or next to your wall, look at them next to the things that will be staying in your home. The flooring, cabinets, countertops, furniture. Have someone else set the samples down, one at a time and you choose one over the next - kind of like when you go to the eye doctor and they ask you which is clearer 1 or 2). This will give you a much clearer understanding of what you like and don't like with your belongings instead of which you like compared to something that won't be there once you paint. Please keep in mind that the white walls you see in magazines and many of the pictures on the internet are taken with high intensity lighting or have been photoshopped with a filter to make them look lighter, brighter, better. In our homes white can be a lot trickier. If you don't have a lot of natural daylight any white can go gray and dingy. Corners and shadowed spaces go gray. Sometimes a light neutral is better than a white and sometimes we need more color to combat low light levels. This room would be better if it were painted a light or mid toned neutral. Just not enough light to make the white look wonderful. Examples of spaces where they mixed warm and cool whites and got not so great results. Both whites may be beautiful in the right setting, but don't work with the other whites they were paired with. Hope this helped some.