ponds and enclosures

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=95 BGCOLOR="#999999" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="047005f0ermwup.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Choupiques Marsh</B></FONT><B>     </B><B>|     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Choupiques Marsh"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>ponds and enclosures</B>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Marsh"><U>The Marsh</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Favorite Links"><U>Favorite Links</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bowfins, Amia calva"><U>Bowfins, Amia calva</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gar promotion "><U>Gar promotion </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Amphibians of the Marsh"><U>Amphibians of the Marsh</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reptiles of the Marsh"><U>Reptiles of the Marsh</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Other things in the marsh"><U>Other things in the marsh</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=385 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> ponds and enclosures</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Below are some pictures of my ponds.  The killi pond is my first large pond. It is a liner pond.  It was dug to remove a stump , then instead of filling the hole, I and a friend dug it larger when we had the dimensions of a liner.  It is 32 inches deep at its deepest, and averages 15 inches deep.   It is home to several dissimilar killifish species, dwarf and pygmy sunfish and dwarf crawfish during the "pond months".  Draw down in late fall is for clean up and removing all the animals so that they do not perish during winter.   American toad, Grays tree frog , and wood frog  all use this pond in the spring for spawning.  Birds and dragonflies especially enjoy this pond. Cardinals are the most common bird, and a dark brown with banded wing medium sized dragon fly specie are common, as are a small bright red specie of dragon fly.</div> <bR> <div> The two other shots are of the larger Gar pond. This is situtated kitty korner from the killi pond in the yard, with the house dividing them.  It houses several fish year round, and like the killi pond is drained in the fall for clean up, but only to remove less hardy fish for the winter. Year round residents are several species of cyprinids ( minnows) eastern mudminnow, central mudminnow, warmouth, bowfin, shortnose gar, blackstriped topminnow, banded killifish and some darter species,   During the warmer times there are several more species of sunfish, killifish and also Alligator gar, and Spotted gar.  American toad, and green frog use this pond in the spring for spawning. They are seldom successful because of the larger predator fish.  Green darner dragon flies are attracted to this pond as are morning doves and crows.</div> <bR> <div> I mentioned the birds and dragonflies to illustrate how the two different man made ponds in close proximety are used by different species of terrestrial animals.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="04e6edc0.gif" border=0 width="878" height="1756" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Below is a pygmy tub. I sink a plastic tub in the ground, add some plants. Then put in a pair or so of pygmy sunfish, and hopefully by fall they have reproduced.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="062fbd70.gif" border=0 width="507" height="727" ALT="Adobe PhotoDeluxe Home Edition Image" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>