Shubunkin Mystery

One of my shubs seems to have disappeared.

Is it more likely to be the neighbours' cat (our cats leave to pond alone),
or could the grass carp have anything to do with it (I thought they were
veggie) ?

The shub was about 3 inches, and the carp is about 6.

Peter

Hi Peter,
Rarely do cats bother fish in the pond.

Three possiblities things:
Wait for the fish to show back up.
They do that. It could be wedged between a plant pot and the side.
or
The fish jumped out during spawning activity. I've had a 10 inch koi land at my
feet once.
Then a cat, or other animal, would carry off a find like that.
or
You've been visited by a heron or kingfisher.

If that is the case you can try:
- bird netting over the pond, usually the best method
- put in an pond shock fence, lays out over the water at the edge
- a motion activated sprinkler
- heron scarer - decoy that gives live fish the time to hide when the predator
goes after the decoy first
(go to froogle.com to find these products)
- Migratory Bird Act forbids lethal methods,
heavy fines and jail time take away from pond time ;-)

good luck!


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Thanks for the advice Kathy

I've just netted the pond, and and keeping my eye out for Cheech the Terror
(just in case).

There was a bird looking down from a nearby tree, but it looked more like a
big Thrush
So I squirted him (gently) anyway.

Peter

Peter wrote There was a bird looking down from a nearby tree, but it looked
more like a
big Thrush

Kingfishers look like thrush on steriods.
The Arnold Schwarzenegger of birds.
They are blue with bulky shoulders and a white breast (sometimes a stripe of
rust feathers on the breast), big black heads with a crest of black feathers.
Their beaks are oversized for their bodies and black also.






kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Certainly not a Kingfisher then.
Investigations will continue tomorrow ;-)

Peter

In article ,
EROSPAM (Ka30P) writes:


Kingfishers look like thrush on steriods.
The Arnold Schwarzenegger of birds.
They are blue with bulky shoulders and a white breast (sometimes a stripe of
rust feathers on the breast), big black heads with a crest of black feathers.
Their beaks are oversized for their bodies and black also.

and the one that hangs around my pond looks like he just go out of the shower
and forgot to comb his hair, rumpled to say the least.

Karen
Zone 5
Ashland, OH
http://hometown.aol.com/kmam1/MyPond/MyPond.html
My Art Studio at
http://members.aol.com/kmmstudios/K....M.Studios.html
for email remove the extra extention

My kingfisher shows up every Dec/January
(pretty mild winters here usually, waters stay open on the rivers and we have
year round herons).

This year though he sure had trouble. I found three goldfish left on the lawn.
He had dropped them and didn't come get them even though the watergardening
labradors spend most of the winter on the sofa.

I don't mind him taking fish but wonder what his problem was this year.


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

My kingfisher shows up every Dec/January
(pretty mild winters here usually, waters stay open on the rivers and we have
year round herons).

This year though he sure had trouble. I found three goldfish left on the lawn.
He had dropped them and didn't come get them even though the watergardening
labradors spend most of the winter on the sofa.

I don't mind him taking fish but wonder what his problem was this year.


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Certainly not a Kingfisher then.
Investigations will continue tomorrow ;-)

Peter

In article ,
EROSPAM (Ka30P) writes:


Kingfishers look like thrush on steriods.
The Arnold Schwarzenegger of birds.
They are blue with bulky shoulders and a white breast (sometimes a stripe of
rust feathers on the breast), big black heads with a crest of black feathers.
Their beaks are oversized for their bodies and black also.

and the one that hangs around my pond looks like he just go out of the shower
and forgot to comb his hair, rumpled to say the least.

Karen
Zone 5
Ashland, OH
http://hometown.aol.com/kmam1/MyPond/MyPond.html
My Art Studio at
http://members.aol.com/kmmstudios/K....M.Studios.html
for email remove the extra extention