We get Racoons every summer and they just sit on the deck and sing atleast that is all I've seen but we have and electric gizmo plugged in, had a good hunting male dog, bars of soap, Critter Ridder, and Bouganvilla and Pyracanthia bushes all around the fence plus lots of cactus and they still came in.. Sunday at the Zoo we saw goats eating cactus prickles and all so if animals want to get in that's all there is but a scare crow using some smelly clothes would make whatever think there was someone present and probably stay away. Racoons can carry rabies and have a nasty bite and my hubby used to stand outside and talk to them and they get pretty close and that just worried me a bit. But this is Ca. and the animals are rapidly losing their source of food and homes so who knows what will come next. We live in the city with plenty of close neighbors and had a bobcat in the backyard and you can hear coyotes all summer long at night. So I can't imagine a plant or chemical that can work against the visitors. Most electronics are set like at the Zoo to keep the animals in the enclosure..

Weinar, there's no way to not destroy a large percentage of the roots from your description of this project. If the digging parameters can't be adjusted, you will simply have to proceed and that damage will have to happen. One thing that can help is to saw any roots encountered rather than letting the high hoe just rip and tear them out. They will still be lost but the resultant wounds will be of a type that the trees can deal with a bit better. The gravel backfill will not be a problem in and of itself. Following this project, you can help in the trees' recovery by making sure they don't suffer from dryness if the weather becomes droughty. Beyond that, it's all snake oil. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the to-me snake oily product "Superthrive". I still can't quite believe it but I have heard a number of testimonials by people whose intellect I otherwise respect, claiming that this material did indeed help with situations not unlike yours. But man, what a whacky deal that is. Good luck.....+oM

LantanaTX, I think you should go ahead and rescue the plants you want. There is almost no chance that they will be valued or saved by the owner of the lot. I appreciate the fact that some members of this forum have had plants stolen from their future building lots, but keep in mind that there are very very few people who would notice or care - one in a million might be too high an estimate of our numbers. If land will be developed by a land developer or will become commercial property then most likely the entire lot will be cleared, and you can feel safe rescuing any plant you find. If the lots will be developed individually or by a developer who is saving some of the woods (if there are woods there now) then you might think twice about taking ALL of the plants near the edges of the lot (I'd still take some). Most people build their home somewhere near the center of the lot, and if they save woodlands will save some near the edges, near the back, or on steep hills or near a creek, for example. With a little imagination you can probably guess where the house will go, and take any plants that will be under or within 50 feet of the house. It is a rare property owner indeed who will rescue wildflowers from beneath the building site. If you think the plants might be spared by the developer (on a steep hill, for example) then take only some and leave some behind, but don't be surprised to find that even steep hill will be cleared and sodded. Keep in mind that for most species of plants you won't need to take all of the plant. Many wildflowers spread vegetatively to form clumps, or tend to appear from seed in clumps. Taking a few individuals or dividing a clump will allow you to take some and leave some behind. Other species can be started from seed. In many cases I find it is easier to transplant a small start from a large clump of wildflowers rather than try to move the whole clump. Other plants are best from seed. Indian Grass, for example could be divided, leaving most of the plants where they are, or you could collect seed. My bottom line is that it is very unlikely that any of the plants will survive the development of the property unless you remove them. If I could find some time to rescue some plants, then I would go ahead and do it and, rather than feel guilty about trespassing, I'd feel good for having saved something that would have been destroyed. Unlike April, I guess I am not the "ask permission" type. I wouldn't worry too much about finding endangered plants, since they are by definition quite rare, but keep in mind they do carry special legal protection.

Hi Gena I have a friend (not me of course) with a similar addiction. My friend, (I'll call him h for husband) started out on the light stuff first, gardening then composting. Soon that was'nt enough. H works in construction, like myself, and things are slow so he and his wife (w for the rest of this tale) decided to start renovating their small house during his off days. Then w ordered him some worms for x-mas. H was careful not to schedule any work so he'd be home when they arrived (careless mailman could leave them in the sun). First sign of trouble: h calls w at work (which he never does) to state they arrived. He then calls again to say he called the company that sent the worms with a problem (they had sent more worms than were ordered and he thought the bin they sent was too small) oh and he had talked to the worm guy himself!! the same famous guy from the web site!! w was happy her gift was appreciated. W began to notice behavioral changes in my friend, small at first, a little dirt by the worm box, box moved to different parts of the house ect. Then the changes became more pronounced, work around the house had slowed, but h had finally taken his starter plants out of her empty aquarium so she was excited to get some fish and so she let it slide. Then the weather turned cold, (my friends h and w have an agreement that h has custody of the thermostat during the cold months and w during the hot, saves on electric and arguments as h likes it colder than his wife). Imagine her horror as she sat under her electric blanket and saw the worm bin in the fish tank with the heating pad at a comfortable 75 degrees. More trouble: work at my friends house has slowed to a crawl. W, while using the computer found the browser history had many worm related sites on it. Turns out when not messing with his worms h was reading about them. Like a true addict h explained this by saying he was just a concerned newbie. Begging forgiveness he moved the bin to the garage. h had a few busy weeks at work so all was good, then he had an entire week off and much to do at home, small house, 1 room at a time, lots of stuff to move to tile, paint ect. W notices this is taking a long time! H, who like me has 20+ years of construction experience has several thousand plausible excuses for this. It's a necessary skill to explain delays. Still there is more web proof that he's reading about worms, turns out he's not smart enough to erase his web history. w mentions the web use but rather than repent h considers using the library computers. Other personality changes: h agrees to accompany his wife to petsmart (which he never does) w finds him asking about redwigglers, turns out he read they sold them as exotic pet food. W is now concerned this is spiraling out of control, he has too many for his bin yet wants more. W takes hubbies atm rendering him helpless to buy worm related products without leaving a traceable paper trail. One day while shopping wife notices husband in fishing (bait) department at wal-mart(like me he does'nt fish) h now must show receipt if he shops alone. h is left with homedepot, lowes, and gas card only, none sell worms. Another cold wave in florida: H is worried about his worms so he closes the garage door all the way, usually he locks it slightly ajar so any of w's cats who did'nt come in at bedtime can sleep in relative warmth. w is awakened by screaming cat at bedroom window. worms in back yard now. h blames heating pad autoshutoff not himself and considers rewiring it. h repents and starts to get some stuff done; he totally reorganizes all of their large storage bins in the garage, he does such a good job one is totally empty! He also finds the paper shredder that was stored during the office renovation (w had been asking for a month) lets hope his motives are pure. unfortunately like all addicts h was thinking only of himself soon the storage box was drilled, and that sunday while looking for the sunday paper w found him shredding it. H explained that he needed to move his worms (the box was full, not his fault they sent so many and things would get better when they were moved. w then returned home on monday to find h filling the storage box with water. I need to make sure there is nothing to harm the worms he explained. w mentioned he uses the same paper for the rabbit and never worried but he did'nt hear her. after a week of filling and letting box drain w came home and found the box in driveway drying in the florida sun. H is in the house, he has gotten the juicer out and is juicing some apples (w's favorite) Alas the juice is to hydrate the worms bedding so they'll eat more. h apoligizes and starts sorting his worms to their new bin. things will be better he tells her and himself when they're moved. several hours later he is done and ready to start his new worm ignoring life. all he needs to do is put his harvested castings in his pots outside in the morning. Trouble: H starts to put his castings on top of his veggies, oh oh found an egg. well h thinks that's only about 4 worms but i should really sort this better. three hours later w comes out and asks whats going on. I found 20 or so eggs and some babies he replies and then explains how this represents a gazillion worms over time, w doubts his math and his sanity so h does his normal chores instead. He is still trying. H sleeps poorly worried about the neglected worms. The next day he begs off going to a superbowl party. Too much to do around here he says. wife attends party but leaves early to surprise h with some company and some takeout (she knows he loves football and is proud he missed the party to get things done). She arrives home, no tv on in living room, truck is in driveway, no sign of h. w goes outback and follows extention cord to shed where h is sorting castings and listening to the game on radio. As h stands in his now dark shed he hopes this is what they mean by rockbottom. Sorry this post was so long but i want my friends story to warn others of the dangers of this hobby.