Kathy Stokmanis did not indicate where she lives, but her mentioning gophers in her question about predators suggests she is in western North America. In my experience snowdrops are not preyed on by mammals of any kind, or by slugs. Their main predator is the large bulb fly, or narcissus fly, which is widespread in the western USA and, I assume, western Canada, as well as in Britain and Europe; I don't know if it is in other places. Snowdrops planted in shady areas seem to be protected from these insects to some extent, as do narcissus. Valuable snowdrops can be covered with Reemay or some other cover that is permeable to air but not to insects when they are through flowering and the leaves begin to soften, but before they turn yellow. I have now grouped my potted snowdrops to facilitate this and after just one year had almost no infestation. North American gardeners who wish to acquire connoisseurs' Galanthus can buy them from the Temple Nursery, Box 591, Trumansburg, NY 14886; catalog $2, no e-mail. Mr. Lyman, the proprietor, ships them "in the green" (in growth) after the older British method, but all those I bought survived. The prices are very, very high, but I felt I ought to buy some to thank Mr. Lyman for contributing to the Rock Garden Quarterly. (There is a lesson in that for some of you -- start writing and send your catalogs, though I won't go so far as to buy a Crinum or Lycoris!) My own summer list includes a few species and cultivars, shipped dormant in slightly moist medium, and no, I won't have G. reginae-olgae in 2004, you must wait until 2005 and make juju against the bulb fly. In flower here on February 1 are Galanthus fosteri, 'Magnet', 'Atkinsii', G. nivalis 'Simplex' (whatever that is), G. plicatus 'Dionysus', and G. elwesii (larger form) in the garden, and quite a number of smaller or recently acquired ones in pots. Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon, USA