I live in 'skunk central', where people give directions to their houses by the number of road-kill skunks - "Take a left on road 21, drive four dead skunks, my house is on the left". Skunks can reek to high heaven w/o having anything bothering them at the moment - I always figured they'd sprayed at something some time previously, and just had the waxy stink stuff on their fur. They are also a creature of specific habits, so they'll follow a similar path .... going along the fence line here, then headed over to the vegetable garden there, then along the side of the house under the bedroom window which wakes us all up from the stench, then along to the side of the pond, etc. When they start coming around the house on a regular basis, I put a single moth ball every 10 feet along the base of the house - of course, you don't put any right near an open window. They won't come near it. I've read, but haven't tried it, that hot pepper works as well - I suppose spraying a bit with one of those key-chain, personal protection capsicum sprays or spurting a bit using a can of bear spray would do the trick. I've also read - but not tried - that ammonia in a dish will work- seems reasonable. Any thing that messes with their sense of smell should work - they're basically after grubs and earth worms, using their noses and, I suppose, ears. Look around your compost bin, and see if there is any shallow holes were they've dug up worms. Good luck. We had one earlier that came by the bedroom window about an hour after we went to bed, and the smell from that one would peel paint.

I got 3" pots of celosia, alyssum, coleus, and iris(don't know if they are Dutch or Bearded) from a landscaper friend of mine and all are growing healthy. Here are my other plants: two lilacs - one died, the other growing good and healthy S facing fence Celosia pulled when they died but wow they are beauties so I will plant them again White alyssum has a nice scent which I can't describe, the purple one has none. Will someone please tell me how to propagate them. They are planted on my north facing wall. Iris flowered last spring hoping they will flower again next year. My favorite is clematis as soon as the one I planted in the fall of 2004 showed the most beautiful blooms I had ever seen. So this year I planted more and have 44 planted in my 800 or so sq. ft. of garden with a few more coming this spring. 3 bush and 3 tree peonies - the trees all bloomed, but none of the bushes bloom at all. Rose of Sharon standard form on container growing good and bloomed all summer in direct sunlight. Tulips and daffodils all rotted last 2004 (heavy rain on clay soil) so the replacements were planted this fall so I hope to see some blooms this spring. I now have a raised garden because nothing seems to grow on our clay soil. Fraxinus Americana and Fraxinus Pennsylvanica are planted in my front lawn - mostly clay but it now has a drain system. What are my chances that they will not die as we are having lots of rain again this year? Any advice or suggestions will be greatly appreciated especially plants good for clay soil as my north facing wall only has a 6 inch raised bed. This is celosia: This is a clematis named 'Bees Jubilee'

A skunk at night is normal. That's when they forage for food and I try to just ignore them unless they are doing something stupid like trying to get into one of our buildings that houses animals, for examples. Skunks out in the daylight usually are sick, often with rabies. We shoot them and carry them (wearing leather gloves) far, far away through the woods to a clearing about 150 yards from the house so the buzzards can find them. We want to be sure the skunks are far enough away that a curious cat doesn't find them. If we see a skunk nearby when it still is dark, usually those run off when they see us. Now, if they run towards you, that's more of a problem. I've never been chased by one after dark, but I've been chased by them in broad daylight. Our house is up on pilings for the same reason, but we still have lots of animals trying to get into it at times, particularly during drought (or flash flooding). We have, indeed, employed a porch dance similar to your Porch Stomp in an attempt to flush out skunks, possums and coons that are trying to nest or whatever underneath the porch. Our wildlife was oddly docile during the Big Drought (may we never have another one like that). I put waterers and feeders far, far, far from the house and fed everything willing to go there and eat/drink. Sometimes I'd see deer, coons, possums and cottontails all gathered around a waterer drinking together. We laughingly called our place the Peaceable Kingdom that year because the wild things didn't even want to fight one another for territory. They just wanted to eat, drink and leave. Well, there was one magnificent buck who brought his twin fawns to eat and he didn't want anyone too close to them. Their mother had brought them daily until one day they just didn't come. Then, the buck started bringing them so I assume the doe died, and I don't know if the buck actually was their father, but he came with them, stood some distance away and watched them eat and drink, and then left with them. That went on all summer. He did come later in winter and eat some deer corn, but he wouldn't eat until the fawns had had all they wanted. I never really thought of deer as a family unit, though of course we see them travel in herds all the time. The buck never ate or drank there that I saw in the summer months when all the animals were so desperately hungry, but he made sure the fawns did. It was kind of an awesome sight to see. In a separate area we fed the bees because all the wildflowers died and dried up by July and the bees had nothing. I'd never put out feeders specifically for the bees until that year, but it worked. They just wanted to eat and drink and leave. I'll be happy if we never ever have a year like that again. We've been wet the last two years, which just brings a whole different set of issues, but starving wildlife is not among them.

The bear stories just keep getting more scary, Lynn. I hope your bear moves on. We have coyotes, foxes, turkeys, and the other usual assorted small wildlife and that is enough for me. Several neighbors keep horses, and the hay and feed for them can attract wildlife as well as the bird food. Black bear have been sighted in parts of Alabama the past several years though, so maybe it's a matter of time.