Backyard critters

[GburgNatsFan]

I'd let Salty do it, he's got experience.

Yeah, I tried that. He didn't respond.

[tomterp]

Yeah, I tried that. He didn't respond.

Jewish holiday perhaps?

[Terpfan76]

What tomterp said. Mine was there when we bought the house. I have however learned that keeping leaves etc out is important as well as either having a de-icer or breaking the ice. An air pump helps too. Can't have gas build up in iced over pond. If you plan on keeping fish, it has to be 36" deep at some point to five fish enough breathing room during winter. Make sure you build caves into your pond. Fish love having a place to hide from the sun and predators.

I would say the biggest tip would be spend extra if need be to get the pond you want from the start. Changing an existing pond is a ton of work. Salty should be your go to guy.

Turtles may end up eating or killing my fish. Luckily, my fish had babies. Also, turtles create a lot more waste than fish. Changing out water is even more important.

the walls of my pond are steep enough that neither Tommy the Baby Turtle nor Snappy McSnapperton should be able to escape. I have a tree limb that I have in the pond to allow them an area to get out in the son. Red eared sliders need a good bit of sunlight or if indoors, UV light. Otherwise, their shells will get soft.

[GburgNatsFan]

Jewish holiday perhaps?

On and off, over the months. He's probably just got too much on his plate these days.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

That pond sounds really neat.  Bravo. 

[Copecwby20]

All this talk of otters, and then I saw this on facebook. Not in my backyard, but still cute.

[CALSGR8]

Irony.  TERPFAN holding a turtle. Wash your hands.  Turtles spread salmonella.

[Terpfan76]

Irony.  TERPFAN holding a turtle. Wash your hands.  Turtles spread salmonella.

yes ma'am. I washed my sons hands first.

[1995hoo]

A great blue heron perhaps?

(Image removed from quote.)

Similar but not quite the same. I did think it was a heron but my wife disagreed.

[tomterp]

Similar but not quite the same. I did think it was a heron but my wife disagreed.

Herons are extremely common in the Mid-Atlantic area.

[GburgNatsFan]

Herons are extremely common in the Mid-Atlantic area.

It's surprising how well they've adapted to living around established neighborhood drainage ponds.

[mitlen]

It's surprising how well people have adapted to living around established heron feeding areas.

[GburgNatsFan]

I'm okay with saying it that way, too.

[saltydad]

Haven't been on much here for a while. The home front can get busy and also somewhat depressing at times. In any case, apologies for not replying about contemplating a pond dig. Firstly, I did not dig mine; I'm smarter than that. Having had back issues and surgery, no way, Jose. My hat's off to you. But I did tentatively design it after doing research (thanks Tom), and then called in the pros. A friend from my gardening group is a landscape designer with Meadows Farms, so he came over and we went over my thoughts and wandered the back yard. BTW, he was the 3rd pond company I called. All of them sounded great, but I wanted an opinion from someone I knew.  He then provided the nuts and bolts data and opinions, and we came up with our design. There should still be a thread here about ponds; in it is a link to pics of my pond being constructed. There are a couple of pond sites on the web that can prove helpful. Also, there are a number of articles and even books around that cover this, and some on a DIY job (I didn't read those). Do you want a pond water garden, a fish pond, goldfish or koi, size contemplated, etc.? Send me a PM with some thoughts and I'll reply and send you my phone so we can talk.
Link- http://www.wnff.net

/index.php?topic=8106.msg278131#msg278131


BTW, due to repeated heron attacks for lunch, I now keep netting over the pond all the time, not just fall thru early spring. And I have tried koi as further reading convinced me I should be able to (at least until they reach 2-3 ft.  ). I now have no goldfish as they kept interbreeding with the koi and giving us rather ugly looking carp. Currently have 5 from 6-10 inches.

[GburgNatsFan]

Thanks, Salty. I'll do that.

Haven't been on much here for a while. The home front can get busy and also somewhat depressing at times. In any case, apologies for not replying about contemplating a pond dig. Firstly, I did not dig mine; I'm smarter than that. Having had back issues and surgery, no way, Jose. My hat's off to you. But I did tentatively design it after doing research (thanks Tom), and then called in the pros. A friend from my gardening group is a landscape designer with Meadows Farms, so he came over and we went over my thoughts and wandered the back yard. BTW, he was the 3rd pond company I called. All of them sounded great, but I wanted an opinion from someone I knew.  He then provided the nuts and bolts data and opinions, and we came up with our design. There should still be a thread here about ponds; in it is a link to pics of my pond being constructed. There are a couple of pond sites on the web that can prove helpful. Also, there are a number of articles and even books around that cover this, and some on a DIY job (I didn't read those). Do you want a pond water garden, a fish pond, goldfish or koi, size contemplated, etc.? Send me a PM with some thoughts and I'll reply and send you my phone so we can talk.
Link- http://www.wnff.net/index.php?topic=8106.msg278131#msg278131

[tomterp]

But I did tentatively design it after doing research (thanks Tom), and then called in the pros.

Forgot about that.

G-Burg, I think I have a stack of Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazines around with pond articles in them if you're interested in borrowing them.

Maybe we should do lunch with Salty one day.  I've got a book Blue wanted me to pass on to him over a year ago.   

[GburgNatsFan]

Great idea.

Forgot about that.

G-Burg, I think I have a stack of Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazines around with pond articles in them if you're interested in borrowing them.

Maybe we should do lunch with Salty one day.  I've got a book Blue wanted me to pass on to him over a year ago.   

[1995hoo]

Puh-LEEEZ don't throw me in dat old briar patch, Brer Fox!

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

I saw a HUGE woodpecker the other day on my bike.  Probably the first sighting of an ivorybill in 90 years, right here in DC 

[HalfSmokes]

I saw a HUGE woodpecker the other day on my bike.  Probably the first sighting of an ivorybill in 90 years, right here in DC 

Woodpeckers are why the Lord created pellet guns

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

You'd need a claymore for this one...it was frigging enormous

Woodpeckers are why the Lord created pellet guns

[Copecwby20]

You'd need a claymore for this one...it was frigging enormous

Nah.... just get a GAMO Whisper, great for you city folks....

[Mathguy]

The deer have shown their heads recently here in OBX - first time in months due to the heat

[GburgNatsFan]

I saw a HUGE woodpecker the other day on my bike.  Probably the first sighting of an ivorybill in 90 years, right here in DC 

Probably a big old pileated woodpecker. Woodpeckers are so freaking cool. I'm listening to a little Downey knock away at a dead tree limb right now. Quiet compared to the big guys.

[Terpfan76]

On the way home from the HS football game last Friday I had to stop and wait for about a dozen deer to cross the road. I've never seen that many in town before. Hell, I think I've seen 3 at one time before.