Outdoor pond!

DaveKuzminski

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We put some of those prefabricated outdoor plastic ponds in our yard so my wife could grow water plants. I insisted we put some fish in to deal with the mosquitoes and we did. However, she wanted something more colorful, so we bought some cheap goldfish from the feeder tank at the store for $.08 apiece. Well, they've grown to be quite large in the neighborhood of 6 inches or longer. We don't take them out to measure, but we had to bury one today that died, apparently of old age, and it was close to 10 inches in length.

However, what we wondered about after observing some unusual behavior among the goldfish several months ago was whether they were mating despite the fact that they were in a pond approximately five feet by three feet in size. Well, today also answered that question when we spotted six little goldfish swimming about with the big fish. We could tell by the markings that one particular goldfish was one of the parents because four shared the same markings. We feel certain that there are probably a few others that we didn't spot.
 
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rich

I have a neighbor who built a similar pond in his yard. To accommodate the increase in population he now has three ponds.
 

jdkiggins

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Dave,
I had a small pond and eventually took it out because the coons ate the goldfish.

If you can figure out which are male and female, you could separate those little suckers (pun intended) to prevent a population explosion. :ROFL: I don't remember how to determine the sex or I'd tell you. It's been years since I had that pond. If you're interested in doing that, I'm sure someone at a pet store who sells fish should be able to let you know how to tell the difference.

Ponds, water plants and fountains present a beautiful relaxing atmosphere. Good luck with the new little fellows!
 

awatkins

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That's cool, Dave. Sounds like you're doing something right! Some of those inexpensive little feeder fish can get to be huge, as you've figured out. :D

I'd love to have a goldfish pond but never seriously considered putting one in because I'm sure, like Joanne, the 'coons and other critters would eat the fish. Still, it would be so neat to watch the goldfish, especially baby ones.
 

DaveKuzminski

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Heck, our ponds are also home to wood frogs, southern green frogs, leopard frogs, and tree frogs as well as eastern toads. I don't know how many of those have put their eggs in the pond to become tadpoles and then mature and hop away. The birds love the water, though I had to rescue a baby bird this year who fell in while fledging. We even had a protected turtle show up this spring and there's a rabbit that's decided our yard is his. Anyway, our yard has become interesting to view each day and, yes, we keep it mowed regularly, but they still show up. ;)
 

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DaveKuzminski said:
Heck, our ponds are also home to wood frogs, southern green frogs, leopard frogs, and tree frogs as well as eastern toads. I don't know how many of those have put their eggs in the pond to become tadpoles and then mature and hop away. The birds love the water, though I had to rescue a baby bird this year who fell in while fledging. We even had a protected turtle show up this spring and there's a rabbit that's decided our yard is his. Anyway, our yard has become interesting to view each day and, yes, we keep it mowed regularly, but they still show up. ;)

It sounds wonderful! I love the outdoors. We have a small lake or large pond (9 acres in size) that our house lot backs down to. There are several houses around it. We all kind of just have large lawns. We are classified "country" but are close to everything. We love to watch the sun set over the water. We have raised several "batches" of ducklings that we later teach to stay at the lake.
I have the ducks all named and when I whistle they come for dinner. Unfortunately, due to coyotes there is a pretty high attrition rate. I find if I put a lot of dog food out by the lake they tend to leave the ducks alone. LOL!
So, maybe something to feed the coons would help save the fish. Just a thought.
I have written an "amusing" story about the antics I've been through raising ducks. I've even waded in the lake and gone with pond scum in my hair to take an injured duck to the vet. Unfortunately, we had to put it to sleep. The vet didn't charge me. (I'm a very good customer.) I told a friend how sweet he was and she said of course he didn't charge you, he got a free duck dinner. I was horrified! This story has several crazy but true incidents that "country folk" would never do in dealing with the raising of fowl.
Does anyone know where I might try to get that story sold?
 

rich

The Front Porch Syndicate would be interested--in their Great Outdoors category. They don't pay much but they're read nationwide.

Rule of thumb: a pond is under 100 acres.
 

D.J.

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rich said:
The Front Porch Syndicate would be interested--in their Great Outdoors category. They don't pay much but they're read nationwide.

Rule of thumb: a pond is under 100 acres.

LOL! Then this is definitely a pond! Thanks for your response. I want to just get a start, so the pay isn't that big of an issue right now. I know I'll need to pay my dues. :)
 

rich

Coincidentally, I just had an acceptance from them. Title: A Pond At Dawn.

If you like, I'll PM it to you.

PS: My pond was smaller.
 

reph

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D.J. said:
So, maybe something to feed the coons would help save the fish. Just a thought.
From my experience with cat food in the back yard, I'll say this: you can't fill up a raccoon.

I told a friend how sweet he was and she said of course he didn't charge you, he got a free duck dinner.
I doubt it, with the euthanasia agent contaminating the meat. Maybe she was trying to be cute.
 

D.J.

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rich said:
Coincidentally, I just had an acceptance from them. Title: A Pond At Dawn.

If you like, I'll PM it to you.

PS: My pond was smaller.

Sure, I'd like to read it. I just sent them a query. We'll see...thanks again.
Oh, by the way, how long should one wait until they give up on a query of this sort?
 

rich

Makes sense, Reph. Euthanasia for animals consists of a heavy dose of barbiturates.

D.J., they don't accept queries.
 

D.J.

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reph said:
From my experience with cat food in the back yard, I'll say this: you can't fill up a raccoon.


I doubt it, with the euthanasia agent contaminating the meat. Maybe she was trying to be cute.

How funny about the racoons! They are such mischievous creatures!
As for the "duck dinner," my friend was definitely teasing me. She was having fun implying that euthanasia truly wasn't used - it's just what they said. They really planned to just prepare it like a chicken that had been killed on a farm for Sunday dinner. ;) Not what you want to hear about your pet duck! She had always lived on a farm - a real one. Those priorities are vastly different from mine.
I do eat chicken and meat, but I prefer to think of it as always just being in packages. I can't allow myself to think of where it originally came from. Yes, I can bury my head in the sand with the best of them. :)
 

D.J.

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rich said:
Makes sense, Reph. Euthanasia for animals consists of a heavy dose of barbiturates.

D.J., they don't accept queries.

Oooooooopssssssss! I'm new to this, so what do I do?
 

rich

Just send them your story.

It's not so much a question of being new at this. It's more that you need to understand the various processess of each publication.

I would've thought you'd go to their site and go from there.

We welcome your nonfiction submissions. We buy first North American serial rights and give acceptance notice within two months. Because of high volume, no rejection notice given. Submissions will not be returned. Payment upon publication. Payment ranges from $25 to $75, depending on length. No payment for letters, quotes, or tips. Manuscripts may be e-mailed to [email protected] or mailed to Submissions, The Front Porch Syndicate, P.O. Box 6759, Lincoln, NE 68506. Please include the appropriate category (e.g., "Family Ties") with your entry, as well as contact information. No queries or email attachments, please.
 

D.J.

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rich said:
Just send them your story.

It's not so much a question of being new at this. It's more that you need to understand the various processess of each publication.

I would've thought you'd go to their site and go from there.

You're right. I didn't read it. I know that is a huge mistake.
 

DaveKuzminski

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Alas, in the past week, we lost four of our big goldfish. Reasoning that the ponds had built up too much muck in the bottom, I rescued the lone survivor from one backyard pond and transferred him to the frontyard pond. Then I caught all the little mosquito fish and transferred them as well. After that, I drained the pond and scooped out all the muck. From there, it was refill the pond, dechlorinate it, and wait just long enough before putting the mosquito fish back in.

Reasoning that the other backyard pond was likely in similar condition, I caught all the fish in it. There were four large goldfish in it and they went to the other pond. As well, we learned that we had eight baby goldfish and we put them in a wading pool which we used as a holding tank. Once all the mosquito fish were out of that pond, it was drain, clean, refill, dechlor, and wait before reintroducing any fish to it.

At any rate, both ponds are now clear again so that we can actually see the fish down to the very bottom.

Okay, now for something interesting. While cleaning the ponds, the frogs didn't hop away, but they did sometimes leap in only to find themselves in muck. Then they found themselves unable to hop back out, so I carefully slid my hand under them to lift them out. Remarkably, they let me do that and even carry them in my open palm to the other pond about six feet away to set them down either in the water or on the dirt surrounding the pond. Very trusting of them in my opinion even though they ordinarily see me once every day.

And yes, draining one pond caused a ruckus among the frogs as they tried to move in on each other's territory because theirs was gone. Their wrestling matches weren't harmful, but they did apply enough pressure to each other to make it clear they weren't willing to share. Today, with both backyard ponds back to normal, they're back to their usual sitting places where they watch for bugs and keep cool.
 

Unique

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Dave, do you ever hear your frogs scream? Seriously.

Sometimes when we go down to the pond or walk the land bridge across to the neighbor's - these frogs give a mighty scream as they cast off into the pond. It sounds like they're screaming because we've startled them. I grew up on a lake and I don't remember any screaming frogs. The ones I've seen so far look just like regular brown leopard frogs and bull frogs. Is there some sort of Southern screaming frog that I haven't met yet? I'm asking because VA is close to NC; maybe you've heard this, too.
 

DaveKuzminski

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I believe you heard a toad. We have one in Virginia called the Eastern American toad which might sometimes sound like it's screaming. Very high pitched and the sound lasts for five or more seconds.

By the way, a correction to an earlier statement. I transposed Southern to the wrong frog. It should have been green frogs and Southern leopard frogs. Ouch!

Also, I forgot to mention that I got a quick measurement of the goldfish we lost. One was 6", one 7", and two were 8" in length.

Also, if a lightning bug happens to be close enough, a frog will eat them. I spotted several that ate lightning bugs at the moment the bug lit up. You could still see the light on inside the frog for several seconds. It was like viewing a green x-ray. ;)

One more added note. There's a web site at URL http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/VHS/frogs_and_toads_of_virginia.htm that features pictures of frogs and toads of Virginia along with sound clips.
 
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DaveKuzminski

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My wife and I were near the pond this evening when another frog arrived and tried to take a position on the lily pad root ball that floats in the pond. Oh, you should have heard the croaks from the "boss frog" who was sitting on the edge in front of that. He then leaped into the pond and knocked the other frog into the water where they both wrestled for about ten to twenty seconds before the new arrival decided that the "boss frog" was still boss as well as bigger.

Then to our amazement, the boss frog swam over to where I was standing and croaked at me, so I stooped down and put my hand under him. He let me pick him up and set him on the ground by the pond. I think he's trying to train me! ;)
 

DaveKuzminski

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Update on the frogs. The other day, our cats were let out of the house to exercise. I arrived home from work and went to collect their dishes and round them up. One had already returned and had a frog which it was trying to encourage to jump so it could catch it again. The poor frog was hunkered down as close to the concrete of the enclosed patio as it could get, but I managed to shift the cat aside and then carefully pry the frog up into my hands. Fortunately, he was all right, though he was shaking from the ordeal as he was rightfully terrified. I took him back to the pond and he slid off my hand into the water when I set him in it.


Then about two days later, I happened to be near the ponds when a grasshopper leaped past me to land beside one of the ornamental plants. One of the frogs spotted the grasshopper and it was amazing to see the frog get excited as if grasshopper was some sort of delicacy. One of the frog's legs just twitched for a moment until he steadied himself to launch. Unfortunately, the grasshopper was quick enough to escape.
 

D.J.

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Dave, have you ever thought about using your love and knowledge of frogs to write a story or novel about? You could tell it from the frog's point of view perhaps in some ways reminiscent of Watership Down, that was the story about the rabbits? did I remember the right title for the story of which I'm thinking?
 

awatkins

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I love your frog stories, Dave. Keep'em coming!

I think you should write something about them, too. You could do an article for a pub like Birds and Blooms maybe. Hey, you could call it The Frog Whisperer.
 
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