For 4½ years I have scrubbed, slaved, sweat-ed & sworen over "The Pond". It hates me, I'm sure of it.
In my last episode I ended up killing off all the fish: eight assorted size goldfish and two small koi. It broke me heart since I only had well wishes for the fishies. Oh dear.
Hard to tell from the photo, but they really are big. The white one is about 12" long, nose to tail and the mottled one on the bottom is a size up from that. The group came to live in the pond through circumstance that I'd rather not relate. Let us just say they were immigrants from another local, needing a good home. I hope I don't kill them.
The funniest thing is that one (maybe more than one) of them has laid eggs. We have Koi caviar in the water. Unfortunately I have found that Koi like to eat their own eggs so I'm not expecting any offspring to survive. I tried distracting the Koi with pellet koi food and they will have nothing to do with it. Sure, I would rather eat caviar than stale crackers any day too. We have Koi with discerning tastes. Who knew?
They are beautiful to watch... and they certainly love their new home. There is major exploration that has gone on all week. They seem to like the shallow shelf at one end of the pond and the large rocks on it to swim around. On the bottom are two large tubs with water lily plants and that is an endless source of entertainment for Koi. Playing "catch me" or "tag" or "hide-and-go-seek" keeps them busy all day. Life is good if your a fish with no one above you in the food chain looking to turn you into a meal.
It's time to clean the pond again. This round will be more gentle and I hope the new tenants appreciate my efforts.... and don't die on me.
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