On Wed, 21 May 2008 10:09:12 EDT, Phyllis and Jim
wrote:

I was thinking carp in the wild.

I grew up in Moses Lake, WA, and it is full of carp. Unfortunately the lake
is too murky to really watch the carp. There is one area where it is clear,
where a natural stream enters and the carp were just swimming around.
Similar to what I've seen in a koi pond, the large koi are swimming around
looking for treats in the algae, but baby koi will school.

The only time I put one in the 'wild' (1969, before I realized the
problems of introducing exotics) it was eaten by ducks before it could
get out of the 60 yd shallows. Talk about heartbreak!

I can imagine. I turned several tree frogs loose in the D.pond, and was
surprised when one of the goldfish tried to suck one of them down. About
took my breath away. Thankfully the frog was able to use it's other foot to
pull loose and get away.

My koi, who could easily suck down a frog don't even give chase. Course I
did have someone mentioned that pets pick up the nature of the owner, as in
being mellow. My fish take one look at a frog or grasshopper in the pond
and go, "Looks like too much work, I'll wait till the pellets are tossed
in, they don't put up a fight." ;-) Why it surprised me to see a goldfish,
not much bigger than the frog try to eat it. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us