Pippi,

You can use the tops of 2 liter pop bottles as cloches to protect from some of the elements. I have all the animals you speak of and my strategy has been to sow as many as possible and plant lots out knowing that some will disappear. Unfortunately, it's difficult to protect them from the deers walking through the gardens and sometimes they get stomped on and I lose them, but if there's lots out there, I know I have a much better chance.

Don't let the deer get those beautiful poppies, please! Spray anything that will be a deterrent against them.

You can spray a mixture of garlic, egg whites, beef bullion, or chicken and hot sauce.. these are all items deer wouldn't eat naturally, you can skip the bullion and whites and just use heavy amount of garlic and hot sauce, that seems to work as well..

however, the biggest drawback is this mixture will only last for a few days 3-5 at the most and would need to be sprayed again and again. The plus is though Deer seem to be habitual, except in really bad years that drives them further from their normal range. If they come to your yard and do not find food a few times, they might not bother again for awhile.

of course I sprayed last year, my roses and hostas at first, so they instead walked past that and ate all my green bean plants instead!!!!

The most effective way is barriers, nothing else is as effective. Not even dogs sometimes. My neighbor has one that they know is chained up, I SWEAR, they get a few feet from him, so he barks and barks and they just keep walking past him.

Ive never seen them touch a poppy plant..

Silverkelt

Squirrels are a real nuisance for me. They like to mess in any freshly dug dirt. Last year I put bamboo skewers and plastic forks around my newly planted seedlings at strategic angles. Keeps the little rats from digging them up. Easy enough to remove once the plants have reached a decent size.

-StLGirl

I buy small wire mesh baskets (at the dollar store) which are intended to be trash containers, and put them upside down on my little ones until they get big enough to fend for themselves.
They also cut down the sun on the first days out.

Someone told me just yesterday that deer will avoid daffodils, too.