I was surprised to see four kits, they are feasting on the maggots and other larva, the bio mass benefits so I'm not going to complain, like that would do any good.

@glennlab Nice philosophy! The possum can stay under the porch as I understand they eat ticks (though he find many more at the back of the yard). I also have bats in the area and like to think they are thinning the mosquito population.

At a former residence, one night I went outside to see what was making noise. There was a pair of raccoons. One was on his hind legs, rocking the garbage container, trying to know it over. I thought my presence would scare them off. Hardly! As I approached them, they eventually sauntered away.

They do love their fish. They've gotten into my ponds everytime I have put one in.

@glennlab Do they at least leave a thank you note? Everyone I know that has a Koi pond has coon problems. They also kill ducks.

@JackPedigo When I still had a dog, they would leave half eaten fish in the yard. ducks are a whole different animal, they'll wipe out a fish pond in a day, it's been 20+ years since I had any ducks. I can put up with a dog that likes to swim in the pond, but ducks that like to empty the pond of all living things are a whole different thing.

@glennlab People around her have ducks to help get rid of slugs and for their eggs. However, they have learned to bring in the ducks at night because the coons will kill them.

Moma and 4 kits with very little fear.

@glennlab I used to have them wander through my yard regularly, then a nearby neighbot had them removed from her crawlspace. Last year one would appear in the neighbor's ivy above a shared fence, but I think they may have moved on, and I'm glad.

Prior experience, I have a dozen or more pvc pipes and a sheet of concrete board and plenty of hidey holes, plus I went with feeders so not a lot of money involved.

@glennlab And that was before you saw the marauding critters! Well forethought. You've certainly got quite a troop. Can you persuade them to dig your veggie plots ready for planting?

@FrayedBear We've know about the critters for decades, this is the fifth pond and I have had here, like I said prior experience. I lost a lot of expensive fish before I switched to feeders. The comets will get 8-12 inches by the end of the season.

@glennlab comets? Don't understand 8-12" reference - you expect the fish to grow that much?

@FrayedBear comets are the variety of goldfish, I've had them grow that much and more in a year. The bigger they get the more tempting they are for the osprey, right now I've got a little over 200 in the pond, by this time next year, I'll be lucky to have 50, I'll buy 100 for $15-$20 to suplement the population.

@glennlab that sounds a very reasonable cost. I never got that far as I lost the house where I built a pond & never had another opportunity. I builtin chickenwire across the pond just under the surface & embeded into the concrete to stop children from falling to the bottom. It should have had a fence around it by law but I gave them a sporting chance.
In time the water would have attracted yabbies [en.m.wikipedia.org]

I have opossums, raccoons, bobcats and coyotes as well as ospreys and hawks that frequent my backyard. You think I lived in the country rather than in the middle of Dallas, although I do live across the street from a green belt.

@glennlab - I thought the same when we saw the foxes in my yard. We had a bird feeder a couple years ago. It was great to see all the different varieties of birds that came to feed - cardinals, blue jays, juncos, and doves mostly, but we had starlings, woodpeckers, and a thrush. What surprised us was when hawks became regular visiters apparently attracted by the doves. We had several patches of dove feathers appear in the yard. Because we have small dogs, we decided to stop filling the feeder. No need to tempt the hawks with canine morsels if they ever tired of doves. I have never lived anywhere where raptures were so prevelant. Last year, there was a huge black headed vulture that found a dead squirrel. It was in a neighbor's yard feasting.

@glennlab I have opossum, skunk, raccoons, coyotes, deer and red tailed hawks that I have seen, heard or seen evidence of (footprints). I have also seen what appeared to be cat paw prints from something larger than a housecat. I mostly like that my yard and surrounds can host a variety of wildlife. My only concern is the coyotes as my loaner dog is only about 30 lbs and I don't think he'd win any battles. Mostly I hear them across the road when they have captured something in the farm field.