We live in an area with similar wild animals and it's only the squirrels and a few birds that ever bother with the compost. We have a 4 sided pallet bin. Twice in 12 years it's been thrown apart by a bear. The palllets were not damaged, DH just tied them together again. It was interesting to see the big bear paw print in the finished compost! I've never seen a crow or raven or any other animal near it. I've recently put a pile of fine wood shavings beside the bin to scatter over each layer but that's because I hope to get faster decomposition. It will I expect also change the odor of the bin so you might think about using sawdust, shredded paper or shredded leaves to do the same.

egg, My biggest problem is with the deer( 18- 30), but the groundhogs(2-8) are a close second. My 17 yr old son helped me dig up a 4' section of the garden about 18" down and then we placed the wire mesh, and covered it with the soil we had moved. We then dug up the next 4' stretch layed the mesh and covered it, third 4' width was the same. We used 6' foot fencing (2" by 4") for the vertical (above ground) fence, and bent the top 6" down to parallel the ground, veggie garden looks like moderate security prison (not maximum-no razor wire) if you are up close, but the green plastic covered mesh is nearly invisible at 75'. Yes, we stopped the groundhog, but only after bending the top of the fence outwards horizontally, the fat demonspawn did climb it before that (twice!). I had tried using a shallower, underground layer of fencing outside the raised bed, but he just dug a longer tunnel; he wanted my veggies and was willing to work hard to get them. As an aid toward keeping deer out - the garden has internal fencing (trellis' and beanpoles) which seem to deter Bambi's kin- - - they don't seem to like narrow spaces, if they have to jump in, beanpoles help by providing more "clutter" for their eyes to deal with. One other unusual use for fencing (hardware cloth actually 1/2" by 1/2" mesh), involves burying it an inch or two above crocuse bulbs (or other small bulbs) that are attractive to chipmunks/squirrels/other rodents. Don

WL, "Any special tips for catching them?" Just don't handle them. It is my understanding that armadillos can carry Leprosy. For that reason, and safety in general, any live catch traps should have protection for your hand at the carrying handle. I suspect that the NWS5300 Universal Trap with built-in nose cone trap would be suitable for armadillos. However, several other traps, like the Wickencamp Coon Trap (Model 302) or the Safeguard Pro Raccoon Trap, are suitable for armadillos. For traps with a rollover release, you should anchor the trap to prevent the captured animal from rolling the trap over and escaping. I lost several large gray squirrels before learning to attach an anti-rollover bar (a short piece of concrete re-bar) to my Havahart traps. If you are trying to catch an armadillo, you might want to use TreeBerry paste bait. If you prefer not to use a live trap, you could try a repellent like Whole Control. I have never used it, so I can't attest to its effectiveness. If all else fails, you could always try "the old reliable" Juicy Fruit gum. (grin) MM

We get holes in the yard, too, and sometime get curious enough to try filling them up like you did. And like you experienced, they never do. Hopefully if there was a snake in there, the flood encouraged him/her to go out another hole and never come back. Probably not but clinging to this thought allows me to get to sleep. I don't really care who/what dug a hole, as long as there are no snakes in it! This may help you discover why there's a hole in your yard: what dug this hole?