Kathleen wrote, >Sadly, this is true. Woodland Park Zoo determined that the herbicide >clopyralid arrived at the zoo in straw bedding and feed, and as of >last fall changed bedding and feed suppliers. But it will take time >for all materials to move through animals and then the composting >stream. So they decided last fall to suspend compost sales for a >year. This is the reason I don't want to use municipal compost, although Portland, Oregon, produces it in huge quantities. When residential lawn clippings go into the mix, it is very likely that long-lasting herbicides will persist.' Like Kathleen I also had snow yesterday and today, but be calm, if you're coming to our meeting next weekend: Warmer and sunnier weather is predicted to commence about Wednesday. Kathleen wrote, >So now I need not only >a crow-dropping-clams-proof coldframe, it needs to be rodent and bird >proof too. The crows here don't drop clams but I have seen them drop snakes. They also like to pull out labels. What I need is a rabbit-proof bulb frame: the devils have been hopping up over an 18-inch base into a small vent and foraging in the frames in the middle of the night, devouring all the crocus, ornithogalum, and some calochortus and muscari foliage that they can reach. I know it's rabbits because I found their droppings. This will not kill the plants but it will set them back for a year or two. And a rabbit went after my garden colony of corydalis and bit off all the flowers, but did not harm the foliage much. I certainly wish I knew a way to trap rabbits. When I had a night-roaming Malamute bitch, there was not much of a problem with them, but now the only dog I can let loose at night is my collie, who does not care about anything too small to herd (she is good at deer). How I look forward to moving to a place where the only varmint is squirrels, which are easy to entice into a live trap. Jane McGary Northwestern oregon, USA