Hi,

We moved to the country and have a 2 acre pond right behind our house
(about 50 ft. from the back of the house) and it attracts all sorts of
wildlife which is fun to watch. Sometimes it is a little too close for
comfort and some people have told me that certain things are
undesirable to have around the pond. For example, a large turtle
(about 2 ft. long) crawled out of the pond to our back door yesterday.
It looks like a snapping turtle and I have been advised to "get rid of
it" by friends and acquaintances. It is creepy looking but if it
doesn't harm me or my family I don't care if it makes the pond it's
home but the problem, say some is that they are "dirty" and pollute
the pond.

Also we have Canadian geese. A Canada Goose pair come in spring, have
a bunch of goslings and then usually leave by late summer and don't
come back until the next spring. This doesn't bother me (except they
leave a lot of goose droppings in our backyard to step in (like having
about 10 minature poodles always crapping back there).

The pond is nearly covered with green mossy algae right now is this
because of the "dirty" animals that are using it or is it healthy
despite the algae? I am looking for the best book I can find on
starting a pond from scratch and maintaining it for beginners. This
was not a natural pond to begin with, it was just a hole dug out of
the ground by the former land owner to create a higher grade for
building a house since the lot sits at the bottom of a hill.

Hi Maxixe,

Keeping a pond for wildlife is a really wonderful thing to do.

The absolutely best book to read about your kind of pond is
Earth Pond Sourcebook
by Tim Matson

Poor snappers, they are not popular. Especially if you step on one when wading.
They like to hang out in the shallows and wait for a meal to come by.
You might keep a count of the goslings... the snapper will eat them.

I don't think the animals are responsible for any problems in a two acre pond.
If you think your pond is polluted I would call your county extension agent.
They can come out, take a look and give you recommendations. A pond with algae
is not a problem in and of itself. But a pond that is choking on algae and full
of dead critters has a problem. Doesn't sound like you are at that stage.


k30a

In , on 05/31/03
at 07:52 AM, (Maxixe) said:

We moved to the country and have a 2 acre pond right behind our house
(about 50 ft. from the back of the house) and it attracts all sorts of
wildlife which is fun to watch. Sometimes it is a little too close for
comfort and some people have told me that certain things are undesirable
to have around the pond. For example, a large turtle (about 2 ft. long)
crawled out of the pond to our back door yesterday. It looks like a
snapping turtle and I have been advised to "get rid of it" by friends and
acquaintances. It is creepy looking but if it doesn't harm me or my
family I don't care if it makes the pond it's home but the problem, say
some is that they are "dirty" and pollute the pond.

It won't hurt a two acre pond, and will eat dead fish and other dead
critters that would otherwise rot and pollute the pond. Snappers aren't
pets, and they aren't pretty, but they are interesting, and their jaws are
easily avoided unless someone does something really stupid. If I had a
pond like yours, I'd welcome a few snappers.

Also we have Canadian geese. A Canada Goose pair come in spring, have a
bunch of goslings and then usually leave by late summer and don't come
back until the next spring. This doesn't bother me (except they leave a
lot of goose droppings in our backyard to step in (like having about 10
minature poodles always crapping back there).

Ducks and geese are messy. One pair, though, shouldn't be a problem, save
for the land mines. :-)

The pond is nearly covered with green mossy algae right now is this
because of the "dirty" animals that are using it or is it healthy despite
the algae? I am looking for the best book I can find on starting a pond
from scratch and maintaining it for beginners. This was not a natural
pond to begin with, it was just a hole dug out of the ground by the
former land owner to create a higher grade for building a house since the
lot sits at the bottom of a hill.

You need different plants to compete with the algae for nutrients. Plant
marginals around the edge of the pond, if there are none already. I
always liked cattails, but there are plenty of different marginals
available. I'm sure someone will post some websites. www.lilypons.com is
worth a look.

Good luck. Two acres - wow.


Alan

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Maxixe,

I don't know enough about ponds to comment on the algae question, but about
the turtle & Canada Geese:

I think turtles are pretty cool, and it's all I can do to resist stopping
the car to rescue them when they are about to cross a busy road (I don't for
two reasons: a young girl in this area was killed by a car when she tried
to do just that, and I've some opinions that say it's pointless to try to
head off the turtle, as it will just come back to the same place -- unless
I "kidnap" it and take it home with me, which is probably not a good idea
considering I'd be exposing the turtle to the attention of my dogs, sigh...)

As for the Canada Geese: they can make an *awful* mess on a grassy
urface -- that's for sure! As far as I know, however, the Geese prefer
well-mowed grass and stay away from longer grass. If your pond is 2 acres
(wow!), do you have enough room to try mowing an area near the pond (and
away from your backyard) while leaving a "buffer" of unmowed (or
less-frequently mowed) grass?

I realize that my suggestion may sound off-the-wall, but at least it doesn't
involve any harm to the wildlife, and it's reversible, as you could always
mow the grass back to its prior condition (more or less).

Just a thought -- and enjoy the wildlife!

Anne Lurie
Raleigh, NC



"Maxixe" wrote in message
om...
Hi,

We moved to the country and have a 2 acre pond right behind our house
(about 50 ft. from the back of the house) and it attracts all sorts of
wildlife which is fun to watch. Sometimes it is a little too close for
comfort and some people have told me that certain things are
undesirable to have around the pond. For example, a large turtle
(about 2 ft. long) crawled out of the pond to our back door yesterday.
It looks like a snapping turtle and I have been advised to "get rid of
it" by friends and acquaintances. It is creepy looking but if it
doesn't harm me or my family I don't care if it makes the pond it's
home but the problem, say some is that they are "dirty" and pollute
the pond.

Also we have Canadian geese. A Canada Goose pair come in spring, have
a bunch of goslings and then usually leave by late summer and don't
come back until the next spring. This doesn't bother me (except they
leave a lot of goose droppings in our backyard to step in (like having
about 10 minature poodles always crapping back there).

The pond is nearly covered with green mossy algae right now is this
because of the "dirty" animals that are using it or is it healthy
despite the algae? I am looking for the best book I can find on
starting a pond from scratch and maintaining it for beginners. This
was not a natural pond to begin with, it was just a hole dug out of
the ground by the former land owner to create a higher grade for
building a house since the lot sits at the bottom of a hill.

In , on 05/31/03
at 09:31 PM, "Anne Lurie" said:

I think turtles are pretty cool, and it's all I can do to resist stopping
the car to rescue them when they are about to cross a busy road (I don't
for two reasons: a young girl in this area was killed by a car when she
tried to do just that, and I've some opinions that say it's pointless to
try to head off the turtle, as it will just come back to the same place
-- unless I "kidnap" it and take it home with me, which is probably not
a good idea considering I'd be exposing the turtle to the attention of my
dogs, sigh...)

I've read you should take the turtle to the side it's headed for, and
place it a few feet off the road facing the way it was going.


Alan

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)

I've read you should take the turtle to the side it's headed for, and
place it a few feet off the road facing the way it was going.


Alan

That's what I do )

(GrampysGurl) wrote in message ...
)

I've read you should take the turtle to the side it's headed for, and
place it a few feet off the road facing the way it was going.


Alan

That's what I do )

While driving my husband & I approched a huge turtle in the middle of
the road . I jumped out to help the turtle to the other side of road
like we did in Cal. with a tortoise once. I grabbed the back of the
shell to carry it when it snapped around at me. I screamed and let
go. It had been hit by a car. Their was a pool of blood on the road.
I picked it up again from behind carrying it across to the grass.

We found a wild life rehibilitator & exrays were taken to see if the
turtle would live. If eggs were in the turtle they would save the
eggs.

The turtle weighed 18 1/2 lbs. I didn't even know how stupid I was to
handle this snapping turtle. Believe me, I was lucky! Old man said,
they don't let go once they bite. They can jump with their two front
feet. Their necks are long . Thier swift in biting. You use a long
tree limb to scoot them across the road.

Guess what. If I ever pass a woman in the middle of a road & she's
trying to help a snapping turtle who got run over I will at least tell
her the danger of an inexperienced person trying to do a good deed! No
body did that for me. Dozens' of cars passed by. Luckly, I still
have ten fingers.

On 8 Jun 2003 07:43:17 -0700, (mattie) wrote:



Guess what. If I ever pass a woman in the middle of a road & she's
trying to help a snapping turtle who got run over I will at least tell
her the danger of an inexperienced person trying to do a good deed! No
body did that for me. Dozens' of cars passed by. Luckly, I still
have ten fingers.

You did the right thing.

You can grab the turtle by the carapace with both hands. Grasp just behind
the neck and in the rear. I have never seen one able to bite when held in
this position, but there's always an acrobatic turtle I suppose. :-)

Bob

You can grab the turtle by the carapace with both hands. Grasp just behind
the neck and in the rear. I have never seen one able to bite when held in
this position, but there's always an acrobatic turtle I suppose. :-)

Bob





I'm dumb enough to try it too, I stop for turtles allll the time, I couldn't
live with myself if one was killed and I could have prevented it.
Colleen

On 11 Jun 2003 10:18:19 GMT, (GrampysGurl) wrote:


I'm dumb enough to try it too, I stop for turtles allll the time, I couldn't
live with myself if one was killed and I could have prevented it.
Colleen

I will practically wreck to miss a turtle. I have stopped many times to shoo
turtles and snakes off the road. It really hurts to see dead animals on the
road. Especially knowing that many were ran over *intentionally*.

Bob

"Bob Adkins" wrote in message
...
On 11 Jun 2003 10:18:19 GMT, (GrampysGurl) wrote:


I'm dumb enough to try it too, I stop for turtles allll the time, I
couldn't
live with myself if one was killed and I could have prevented it.
Colleen

I will practically wreck to miss a turtle. I have stopped many times to
shoo
turtles and snakes off the road. It really hurts to see dead animals on
the
road. Especially knowing that many were ran over *intentionally*.

I stopped once to help a snake off the road. It had been well over 100
degrees that day and he was roasting. All the cars stopped to let me do it,
which was cool. I seem to remember one guy trying to drive up the wrong side
of the road, and got very ****ed when he couldn't get passed me. Mr. Snake
was very grumpy...Had I not had an umbrella in my car, I am not sure I could
have scooted him off the road.

BV.

Bob Adkins wrote:
On 11 Jun 2003 10:18:19 GMT, (GrampysGurl) wrote:



I'm dumb enough to try it too, I stop for turtles allll the time, I couldn't
live with myself if one was killed and I could have prevented it.
Colleen


I will practically wreck to miss a turtle. I have stopped many times to shoo
turtles and snakes off the road. It really hurts to see dead animals on the
road. Especially knowing that many were ran over *intentionally*.

Bob


--

seems to be another trait of ponders
I ran a sherif off the road trying to miss a ground squirel when I
told him why believe it or not he understood



John Rutz
Z5 New Mexico

good judgement comes from bad experience, and that comes from bad
judgement

see my pond at:

http://www.fuerjefe.com

"Bob Adkins" wrote in message

You can grab the turtle by the carapace with both hands. Grasp just behind
the neck and in the rear. I have never seen one able to bite when held in
this position, but there's always an acrobatic turtle I suppose. :-)

Bob

If you ever decide to pick up a Turtle it is a good idea to keep the Back
end of the Turtle pointed away from you or you might get Wet. Stinking Wet.

Well... Maybe pointing the Back end off to the side is a better idea. I'm
not sure that I'd want the Toothy front end pointed Toward me.


Keep Warm, and Dry.
-Ponder_Eh?-

http://ponder_eh.tripod.com/
http://community.webshots.com/user/ponder_eh

Most U.S. turtles can be handled in the manner described without
danger. Softshell turtles and common snapping turtles will inflict
serious damage to the hand grasping the carapace just behind the neck.
All turtles can inflict painful wounds if handled improperly.

Bob Adkins wrote:

On 8 Jun 2003 07:43:17 -0700, (mattie) wrote:



Guess what. If I ever pass a woman in the middle of a road & she's
trying to help a snapping turtle who got run over I will at least tell
her the danger of an inexperienced person trying to do a good deed! No
body did that for me. Dozens' of cars passed by. Luckly, I still
have ten fingers.

You did the right thing.

You can grab the turtle by the carapace with both hands. Grasp just behind
the neck and in the rear. I have never seen one able to bite when held in
this position, but there's always an acrobatic turtle I suppose. :-)

Bob

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On Thu, 12 Jun 2003 03:22:25 GMT, GD wrote:

Most U.S. turtles can be handled in the manner described without
danger. Softshell turtles and common snapping turtles will inflict
serious damage to the hand grasping the carapace just behind the neck.
All turtles can inflict painful wounds if handled improperly.


Yea, I knew about the softshells, but I've never seen one on the road. Darn
hard to catch in water, too. Those suckers are FAST.

Bob