Disappearing Fish

We have a very nice pond in our back garden.  And we have 6 fish in there and looking very nice as well.  We had learned our first winter here that when it gets cold, the fish tend to sink down to the bottom of the pond and hibernate.  So we don't have to feed them and don't have to worry about them.  Our first year though, I did worry that they might not be getting enough air when the pond froze and I was right.  When spring came and the pond thawed, all of the fish came to the top gasping for air and they all died.  So we replaced them with the 6 we have now and next winter, I made sure to poke holes in the ice with this lovely golf club I had found thrown into the bushes behind our house.

Everyone told me that herons come and eat your fish.  I haven't seen a heron yet anywhere around our  house and garden but people kept telling me I would lose my fish to a heron.   About mid Oct, I finally decided to heed the warnings and put a net over the pond to keep any potential heron from stealing my fish and also to keep the leaves from falling into the water.  I left one end, about a foot wide, of the pond open because the neighborhood cats and foxes and badgers and squirrels all drink out of the pond.  There are water lily pads in the pond so I figured the fish could stay under the water lilies and out of danger or they would deserve to get eaten.  

Wow, talk about locking the barn door or tempting fate!  Our pond developed a leak and we were having to fill it, even after all the rain.  So our landlord came over to replace it and punched a huge hole in the lining to drain it.  I was standing by with two nets to catch my fish.  Pond is getting lower and lower in water level and so far I have only gotten one fish in my net.  Finally, the pond is almost empty and there are no more fish in there at all.  I go downstairs under the deck where the water is draining and there is one fish lying in the puddle there.  that's 2 of 6 and that was all!  someone, some cat, some heron, some fox, some squirrel, or some badger has come and eaten my fish, four of them.  OMG.  my net was too little too late.  

Once we get in the new pond liner and fill up the pond again, I am going to put the net over the pond right away.  I am still going to leave a hole for the wild critters and the neighborhood cats and hopefully these two fish have learned their lessons as to what can happen to their friends when they swim to the end of the pond.  yea, right.  maybe I'll make spring with two fish and maybe not.
 

Mean Squirrels

Mean Squirrels

            Everything gets fed in my garden and I mean everything from the squirrels, birds, foxes, deer, crows, cats, dogs, bees, badgers, hedgehogs (hopefully, haven’t seen evidence yet), people, fish, and just about anything else that runs through the garden gets food of some sort.  Sometimes it’s a little tricky spacing out the food bowls and feeders so that unfriendly sorts do not tangle up together.  I think we do a fairly good job of it though and most of the animals are happy and love running around the garden and it’s quite fun to watch them.

            That said, I have some very mean squirrels in the garden.  They are very good at stealing the birdseed and such.  I put out peanuts for them but when the peanuts are gone, they come after the seed and I have had to put out new feeders because they have chewed through all the plastic ones.  They’ll even sit in the bowls and eat the mealworms which did surprise me a bit.  Now they have stooped to a new low in meanness.

            I have gnomes in my garden.  I love my gnomes.  They stand around the fish pond and watch the fish (although the fish are still missing in action, hiding in the muck) and watch the lily pads grow and basically are not bothering anyone.  Four of my gnomes were solar light gnomes.  They have been in the garden for a long time and finally we are getting enough light, some days, for them to glow at night. 

            The squirrels though!  Mean critters.  If I have not gotten out there in the morning with a fresh batch of peanuts, they are going over and kicking the gnomes into the pond!  I have had to pull out gnomes from the pond several afternoons.  Once in the pond, the solar gnomes don’t work so very well anymore.  There is a gnome with a wheelbarrow too and he gets peanuts in his wheelbarrow every day.  By the early afternoon, his wheelbarrow is empty.  By the early evening, the squirrels have kicked him over.  I have had to move all of my gnomes away from the pond because they can’t swim.  The wheelbarrow gnome has to fend for himself.  The squirrels are going to have to learn to play nicely with the gnomes or they are going to find less peanuts out there, not more!