not too many in one post ... its just easier ... the second MIGHT be a butterfly WEED ken

There is one other place I know of you are likely to read about composting animals. The humanure handbook website forum. It wasn't till I started humanure composting that I learned how to get a really good hot compost pile that would easily handle rotting carcass and control smell and other animals digging it up. So what have we composted. I really can't even count the bones and scraps of animals we have eaten since we always compost all food scraps that don't go to the chickens or worm bins. It is a firm rule here to avoid putting anything stinky in the trash can. So, animal bodies in our compost bin lately. 3 sick chickens we didn't want to make the rest of the flock sick. Any dead squirrels we find around the house. 12 rats we caugh And all fish parts that the chickens don't get, I've found that burying fish parts causes critters to dig up the yard or whatever plant I put over it so composting seems to be the best way for use to take care of it. I agree that this is an advanced composting thread. No one who is not confident of their ability to manage a hot compost pile should be putting dead bodies in it.

Just some thoughts on your plant choices... Loropetalum and Lavandula stoechas are at opposite ends of the water requirement spectrum, and Loropetalum wants to get 5 feet tall by across or more at maturity, you'll be pruning this a lot and losing the natural form to keep it in check. I never use Loropetalum chinense rubrum selections unless they have at least 6 feet of space to grow. Purple Fountain Grass is really more of a warm season annual than a reliable year round good appearance perennial in SF Bay Area conditions, and I only use it in my designs as an annual to be yanked when it starts looking bad by late December/early January. It seems to take forever to look good after winter is over, while it arrives early in the season from southern California greenhouses each spring, it may be mid June before one in the ground looks full again. I'd suggest sticking with plants that are more water compatible if it is all on the same valve. My personal bias would be to lose the Pennisetum rubrum and substitute with more of the Lavender or maybe some Tulbaghia violaceae 'Silver Lace' for a similar grassy foliage look and long bloom season/deer resistance. Adding something like a spilling Erigeron x moerheimerii would also relate to the Lavender. If you like purple foliage, I might suggest seeking out Eucomis comosa 'Sparkling Burgundy' as an accent,(but this isn't a Home Depot type of plant), or maybe Sea Lavender/Limonium perezii for the long spring to fall deep purple blooms and low water needs. If you wouldn't mind adding some magenta/fuchsia flower color to the mix, Salvia chiapensis is another one that spills and drapes and has a nearly year round bloom period, or the newer hybrid Salvia 'Wendy's Wish' is quite nice as well. Some bulbs such as Scilla peruviana could also be an interesting addition to the mix, with bold color in March/April, and survives on rainfall alone.

Ironically, all a good gardener's hard work, mulching, irrigating, keeping a compost pile can actually ATTRACT moles by providing plenty of worms, grubs etc. for them to eat. Their constant search for underground insects can cause serious damage to lawns and gardens, so it would seem that destroying soil insects would decrease their activity...but actually, damage may be increased as the animals burrow even more in their territory to find the scarcer food! Also long-term eradication of soil insects is impractical, if not impossible. Other means of getting rid of moles that DO NOT work: Fumigating: car exhaust, poison gas cannisters etc., are a wasteof time when dealing with moles, their tunnels are far too extensive to fill with gas. You may succeed in repelling them, or maybe killing one, but tomorrow...THEY'LL BE BAAAACK! Poison baits: moles are primarily insect eaters, poison baits are generally grain-based. Mothballs: moles maybe temporarily repelled, or more likely, just dig different tunnels. In the meantime, you have poison lying around for children or pets to find. Vibrating or ultrasonic devices: As lovely lawn decorations, windmill daisies may may bother your neighbors, but your moles won't mind a bit. Chewing gum, broken glass, human hair, etc., etc., etc. : Again, really not effective. Homeowers sometimes think they've run off a mole using one of these methods, most likely, she's just gone to deeper ground to have babies, who will be ready to dig their own tunnels in a month! Recommended methods for getting rid of moles Trapping: The 'harpoon' type trap is probably the easiest to use, but does require careful placement. You'll need to watch the mole activity to find active 'surface runs' . Often these are located along a barrier, such as a driveway, or along the edge of a woods or hedge. They tend to be fairly straight, and may appear to connect two or more mounds or the curving ridged paths where the moles hunt. Once you think you've found a main runway, make a hole in it, the mole will repair it in a day or two if it's an actively used run, which means it's a good place to trap. The trap should carry instructions on how to set it. Lightly depress an area of the run, and place the set trap over it, so that the trigger just barely touches the depressed area. The support spikes should straddle the tunnel without blocking it. Also, take care not to damage any other part of the run, the mole needs to be able to get to the trap area. A bucket placed over the trap can help keep children or pets away. Check the trap often, if not tripped within a few days, try another location. Other methods: Moles can easily be observed at work, for those with strong stomachs, a pitchfork or shovel straight into a moving burrow is quite effective. Or you could try to dig up the creature and transport it elsewhere...be warned, these little velvet-coated beasts are fearless, and can deliver a painful bite or scratch! Some dogs and cats are good mole-hunters, though it seems more of a game, as moles taste unpleasant, and few predators actually eat them. When placing a garden or lawn near a wood or field where moles are plentiful, a 'mole barrier' can keep them out. Sections of galvanized hardware cloth or aluminum sheathing, 3 feet wide, should be buried to a depth of 24". Six inches should be left exposed above the soil, and three inches can be bent forward on the bottom, towards the source of the moles, to discourage them from digging underneath it.