eeek!
there was a plethora of dragonflies hanging aroudn my pond yesterday &
today.. the 1st time in 'ever' seeing them here.

ok, how do I get rid of them & should I be reallly scared???

(I have read about the larva/nymphs eating goldfish,, although I
cannot see
how something THAT small could do that!)


Like everyone said, they are good to have. They do not sting. The very
big ones can bite but, you have to grab them before they will (childhood
lesson).
My youngest and I watched a pair mate yesterday (something they do
continually). They decoupled and the female proceed to lay eggs while
the male buzzed around and tried to chase us off. After the female left
the male hung around a few more hours and would buzz me if I got to
close to the eggs.
In the afternoons they swarm high over the house like swallows eating
bugs. I read somewhere the other day that they can eat 1,000 skeeters a
day (How do they figure that kind of thing out? Sounds made up to me.).
Happy ponding.
Mark B.

And it's fun to watch when they first crawl out of their old skins and
spread their wings to dry. I don't know if I've ever lost any baby fish
to them (usually blame the big fish and turtles for that) but I wouldn't
hold it against them if they did eat some fry. I've never had one bite
me although I've had a few land on him when I was sitting in the pond.
Gabrielle