Raccoons love city living. Their population grows right along with us, especially in the Bay Area. For 18 yrs I lived in the Richmond district of SF, right outside Seacliff, between the Golden Gate National Recreation Area/China Beach and Golden Gate Park. If you're not familiar with the area, lots are 25x100 and older houses have zero setbacks, meaning they are side-by-side and sharing walls with their neighbors. No front gardens, relatively few street trees. Express buses run on three parallel streets every morning and evening and parking spaces are more precious than gold. IOW, a totally urban environment. One day I got back from doing errands, around 2p. Getting out of my car, I happened to look across the street. Strolling as casually as if he had all the time in world, was the biggest raccoon I've ever seen. It had to be three feet long and so fat it was over a foot wide across the stomach! No dog was going to bother it, and it was large enough to kill any cat stupid enough to get in its way. They especially love cat and dog food, BTW.

Once I heard something hit the house really hard. I looked outside and a hawk must have chased a pigeon so that it flew into the house. The pigeon clearly had a broken wing and was trying to walk away but the hawk was slowly following it. Later there was a pile of pigeon feathers in the corner of the yard. Another time I was sitting outside and I realized it was almost completely silent - no bird noises. I thought hmm, that's odd and looked up to see birds flying into all the bushes. Just then, a big hawk swoped into my yard, perched on a branch for a few moments and then took off. A minute later all the birds in the bushes were raising such a racket. All I could think was they were telling each other "Did you see that? We almost died!" My sister had an outdoor cat in Phoenix. The neighbors referred to cats as coyote bait. That cat was one tough cookie and survived 13 years there. She's still alive at 17+ years old but now she stays indoors in her new home in another state. If she had any fights with a hawk, she won.

Me, I live in South Carolina. Cook everything from scratch and live in the garden. Retired nursery owner and landscaper. Nice to meet everyone. Re: Park Seed. I was there a few days ago and it had the 'feeling' that it might be going out of business. Not the same, vibrant business that I have known over the years. Wayside Gardens has opened a retail discount outlet in Greenwood, SC. not too far from Park Seeds. Anyone within driving distance should make the trip. Terrific bargains on plants/roses, iron gates and arches, books and many its catalog items plus more.

Carl Hiaasen wrote Hoot, a young adult novel about those burrowing owls in SE Florida. They made it a movie, too, but I didn't see it. I did read the book with my 12 y/o. (Hey, you're never too old for mom to read to you!) Kids work together to save an area of nests about to be destroyed by developers. It's very funny, he uses wit and irony to tell the story (and a few 4-letter words, FYI). Great for kids 12+ with an interest in environmental causes, and a sharp sense of humor. Good contemporary YA books. The characters and situations appeal even to kids who don't love to read (like my DS). They are "real" and have their dysfunctions. But they are motivated by a strong sense of right and wrong. Sorry, I took a tangent there. I do that when I've had coffee too late in the evening (and other time, too).