I appreciate all the suggestions and advice. I really miss my ponds. They were my favorite spot in the yard. Oh well. Such is life.
I bought a sheet of plywood that I had cut in half. It was cheaper than any other options. Each piece is big enough to cover each pond. I will place a cinder block on top each night. I have a daily morning and evening routine in my yard, so I will just add the covering of the ponds as another evening routine. I didn't think the wire mesh cover would work. I think the raccoons would figure out a way to still get into the ponds. The plywood covering the ponds at night would probably work because they wouldn't see any fish or the water. Hopefully what they don't see will discourage them enough to stay away.
I have a couple of waterlilies in containers in small water pots, so will transplant one per pond. It will take a month or so to grow large enough to fill in the ponds, but replacing waterlilies at retail price is not in my budget currently. I have to make due with what I already have. Or find a waterlily source for wholesale prices. I am still hopeful that a few of the shredded waterlilies are still alive and will recover, but they are in really bad shape ... so I am not counting on it. Time will tell....
Elaine - I have used Mosquito dunks. They don't work as well as the fish. They are expensive and don't even last a month in my ponds. Which is why I switched to fish over the years. I love having fish in my ponds. That's what makes a pond special, IMHO. So ... I am not ready to give up on having fish. I will just have to cover the ponds every night and hope the Raccoons don't figure out a way to move the plywood. I will have to keep the water level lower than typical since many waterlily blooms stand above the water line. But it's the price I will pay to keep my ponds. Nothing in life is constant except change. Time to adapt once again !
