I experimented and wound up with something strange. I decided to leave the walls and surrounding patio intact when I filled in my pool. (I suppose I had visions of a humongous koi pond.) I had electricians and plumbers disconnect the electricity and plumbing, I drained the pool, then jackhammered holes in the bottom for drainage, then dumped 7 or 8 big truckloads of fill dirt into the pool, and finally dragged the old pool equipment to the curb. It cost only several thousand dollars, preserved the surrounding patio, and gave me soil deep enough for large trees to grow in it. But that huge underground concrete bowl tends to drain water very slowly. After really a heavy rainfall, the ground is covered with standing water for at least a couple days. Smaller puddles of water can sometimes remain for weeks. The soil can stay soggy sometimes for months. So what I effectively wound up with is what is called a "bog garden" or "rain garden". Only swamp-tolerant trees and plants will grow in it. It never needs watering, which is a positive. But it often looks like a swamp, which is not a common or even attractive appearance to many people. It is definitely providing a landscaping challenge! This post was edited by s8us89ds on Sat, Feb 16, 13 at 4:03

Annie Glad you dispatched that water moccasin -- they're pretty venomous. Once after a hurricane storm surge (where I lived before), a Diamondback rattler was hanging out under a shed in the back, probably swept in from the deep woods. It was as big as they get in the East, about five feet long and as fat as somebody's thigh. Its rattle sounded like steam escaping from a kettle, and for several days I could not identify it nor where it was, though when I did, I almost had a heart attack. The game warden lived closeby and when I called, he came with a bunch of visitors they had at the time, bringing three guns with them. They shot it, and one of them took it with him to save the skin. He said it was the biggest one he'd ever seen. Now my late afternoon garden forays are usually greeted by the hissing of three Great Horned owls, a little less scary. Or maybe it's just the young one who hisses, but there are two larger ones, too. They perch in the tall trees that surround the back of the house. I don't know if it's conversation among the three of them or a complaint about me being out. We are overrun by chipmunks this Spring, and I think that might be the attraction. There's always excitement where there's wildlife, isn't there?!

LOL Carrie that is funny. Did you get him out or the hubby? Brandy I will send you some. Not just kidding. Squirrel girl I cant do it. My stomach says no. I cant even look at them. I watched the planet series on discovery last night. They had lizards on the desert program they were not bad to look at. Anyways wanted to share my suet recipe cheaper to make than buy it. My property is called woodpecker acres for a reason. the woodpeckers love this suet....Save your plastic containers you buy your suet in. Just wash them up. You will need approximately 6-8 containers. 1 Lb lard 1 small jar peanut butter get it at aldis cheaper 2 cups oatmeal 2 cups flour 2 cups corn meal Melt lard and peanut butter in microwave. Add rest of the ingrediants and mix away. Place mixture into suet containers and keep frozen. I place chunks of suet pieces outside. I have something coming in at night eating the suet. If I put the whole block out it would be gone the nest morning. So I break it into chumks last longer that way. You can add anything else you like nuts berrys so forth. This is not an exact recipe. I dont even measure anymore. Alittle of this and a little of that. they love it... Well gotta go dig more plants up. Barb

The thing about rattlers is that they don't want to be anywhere near you, and unless they are trapped, they will backytrack to get away. Now desert diamondbacks are different, because they can't see well and will track heat. Mocassins will chase you too. I remember the young man that my aunt's in-laws had clearing their land on the island where my mom grew up. He killed a 6-foot diamondback with a hoe. He said it didn't have time to coil. It was early in the morning, still chilly, and he caught it sleeping. We used to find puff adder skins in the house every summer when we would go down for vacation. We never could figure out where the snake was getting in, but he was, and he liked shedding his skin in the back room that used to be my grandmother's room. A man clearing land once told us that if we knew how many rattlers there were in our yard, we would never leave the house. It was so sad how he died. He and his family had been clearing land on that island for over 100 years, and he got bit by a diamondback and died before he could get to the hospital.