laurelhed - Without the chicken wire, the plywood cover could be easily pushed aside for the raccoon to get into the pond. The wire keeps it from moving easily, so no raccoon entry or damage. That is the reason I keep the chicken wire over my ponds.
When I had a raccoon attack over a year ago, 2 of my waterlilies were actually destroyed. A few survived. I wound up ordering a two new ones to replace the ones that I lost. I managed to save a few of my minnows, who have since re-multiplied to fill the ponds up again. So though I lost quite a bit in the attack, it didn't stop me from keeping these two pond containers. I just had to stop growing taller water plants other than waterlilies in the ponds and to make sure I cover them every night.
