Hi All,
Haven't been on for a while so trying to catch up.
Here is a new twist to pests in ponds. A friend just 12 miles from me had an invasion of toads last spring and now it is happening again. She has removed as many as 32 pairs from her pond. She lost a lot of fish last year. We both consulted with Univ. of Fl. and they said toad sperm could kill fish. After same rain she had I woke up from the loud chorus of toads. Checked my pond and I had about 17 pair which I netted and moved to canal down in back of our pasture. Also, I watch closely for the Cuban tree frogs which eat anything they can fit into their mouth. Our small green native frogs, tiny fish, small birds etc. population declined. I kill them immediately and Prof. at Univ. said to freeze them and then busy them. I told him I wasn't going to have those slimy things in my freezer so in the ground they go immediately after I put them to sleep. We are in the country but I don't recall seeing any raccoons and have been in same place 46 years. If they come around my ponds they will be greeted with my 22. Also, popped off 1 heron. Yes, I know they are protected but after he ate 1/2 of my small pond all up he had to go to heron heaven. He had the nerve to stand and stare at me the next morning on walkway that runs between both ponds. He made the mistake of circling above the house so he is now gone. There is another down in our canal but I am hoping he doesn't find his way to the ponds. Larger pond has all 2 and 2 1/2 feet fish in it and they would be hard for him to carry off or swallow but I have seen them spear fish and drop them. Not what I need. My biggest problem with both ponds is leaf drop as they are both under same oak tree. I have to come up with some sort of cover with small enough squares to stop oak blossom from going into ponds. Lost 4 fairly large fish in small pond due to ammonia spike from oak blossom this year. I'm thinking of small square netting stapled to wood framed sections that could be easily moved when necessary. Got to come up with something before next season of leafs dropping. I netted them out 3 times a day but that evidently wasn't enough.
Oh the joys of ponding.
Bonnie
