Several years ago Son #2 and I dug a deep hole where the greenhouse used to be and turned it into a pond.
It has a small waterfall, rocks and moss and - even though I didn't want it to be - it's round.
It also had mosquito larvae.
To combat the mosquito problem we stocked it with gold fish.
(I guess I will have to live with the round)
The blue herons love the goldfish.
I hate the herons
With their big flappy wings and long sharp beaks they just swoop in and eat my fish!
I know - nature, food chain, blah blah - that rationalization doesn't make me feel better when I see there are fewer orange flashes in my pond.
Another issue with the pond fish was our really cold winters, the water would freeze and the fish would die if I didn't take them into the house and care for them in an aquarium.
So I took them inside. Or should I say 'we' did.
The aquarium was not cheap......
....and I dropped it on the garage floor so it is done.
The aquarium was not cheap......
....and I dropped it on the garage floor so it is done.
Two years ago The Husband bought a floating heater.
He said it was for me but as he was the one who had to dip net the fish out (they can be really fast and wiley having learned to dodge the heron) and it was a big job.
He said it was for me but as he was the one who had to dip net the fish out (they can be really fast and wiley having learned to dodge the heron) and it was a big job.
The heater worked like magic and the fish survived the winters.
We also provided them with hiding spots so that they could dart away from the herons and that (touch wood) has been working too!
This spring when cleaning the debris out of the water we came across what I thought were tadpoles - tiny jelly like balls with a black dots..
A few minutes later I remembered that frog/toad egg sacs float freely in a clump and these had attached themselves to a piece of broken pottery.
Yesterday I checked the eggs again and I can see the definite shape of a fish!
I hope its a fish and not something nasty.
I hope its a fish and not something nasty.
Now how do I keep the pond fish from eating whatever these things are when they finally break out to freely swim around the pond?
Perhaps "we" could make a box to set in to the water.
A box that has very fine mesh so that these babies can't get out and the big guys can't get in.
Maybe I could put them in a fish tank, but we've wandered down that expensive road before.
I just know that The Husband will mutter something about survival of the fittest.
And the fact that feeder fish are only 59 cents each retail may come in to the conversation.
Perhaps "we" could make a box to set in to the water.
A box that has very fine mesh so that these babies can't get out and the big guys can't get in.
Maybe I could put them in a fish tank, but we've wandered down that expensive road before.
I just know that The Husband will mutter something about survival of the fittest.
And the fact that feeder fish are only 59 cents each retail may come in to the conversation.
I just know there will be grumbling.
3 comments:
Hmmm. Pandora's box. The snake eating it tail. It just keeps going round. Makes a good story, though.
I love a cliff hanger! This is so interesting too.
I have no idea what's going to come of it but I would put them in a container inside of the pond so that we they do hatch, you may be able to see them before they jump out. If in fact that's what they're do when they hatch. Keep me updated!
m.
I love your pond...but like everything else, it sounds like work. I also hope that whatever is born/hatched...that it's nothing nasty. :)
Won't frogs eat the mosquitos though??? Perhaps you NEED some baby frogs??? RIbbit.
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