Pellet gun .177 1000 fps and a cook book. I have found that as soon as I find a good dinner for rabbit, squirel, deer ,coon ect they stop coming by for dinner.Ground hogs seem to be slow learners maybe that is why they are best in the crock pot.

Well that's was one of my and my brother's key responsibilities as kid, but now I have neighbors. Besides, there are tons of squirrels here and I don't have two youngsters who's primary duty it is to thin the herd. :)

What has worked for me is to lay the chicken wire (or hardware cloth) directly over the bed. Once the seeds are well up, I remove it--or not. Everything grows right through. At least there is no building involved, and it is less conspicuous for my garden which is right out in plain sight on a city street. Maybe this will work for you.

Hepatica

I'm thinking along the same lines, Hepatica, except the wire curls up at the edges. How are you attaching it? Some kind of non-dangerous hooks around the outside to hold the wire down might be an option. That way I can leave the hooks and put the wire out as needed.

I did cover my garlic bed with chicken wire since I assumed the bulbs would be just too tempting over the winter. The garlic is just growing up through the holes. I used a staple gun, and I am not looking forward to prying it all out.