Death and Destruction

Evil evil animals. Crows have been around my pond for days.. Wonder if their the culprit of the missing fish I've 'lost' we don't have cats or herons so it's not them. Poor fish :)

Hi

In a previous house I had a pond full of Shubunkins and a magpie liked a tasty treat until I put a very thin wire around the edge of the pond just high enough to upset it ...

Sarracena looking good , I will look into if you can put small pebbles on the top I havnt seen before though ...

Gg

Dan, I really think it must be a Crow, haven't seen a Magpie in the garden for a while. Unfortunately the fish respond by coming to the surface, looking for food, when I walk close.
Gg, I understand some people put a large stone in the base of a plastic pot of Sarracenia to stop it floating, so washed gravel on the top, upside down difference?

Oh dear, sad to hear you're losing fish,so annoying and upsetting. I squashed 2 Red lily beetles yesterday. Crows also fetch our baby mallards, grrr. The heron is always around the pond too, sometimes big fish get spiked and are just left on the bank as too big to take ??

Never lost fish for 20 years or so, since I moved my original pond from the front garden after cat predation to the enclosed back garden.

oh dear what a rotten thing to happen the crows here take eggs but not seen them near the pond, maybe the dog frightens them off. A friend once told me the trick to keep herons away is to have an artificial heron stood on the pond side they do not like competition and stay away but it must be one that looks realistic.

Olive, I am pretty sure the culprit is not a heron, it could not fly down into the back garden too small, also herons swallow the whole fish head first. This left just the fibrous tail as if it had been pulling it apart on the grass. Still opt for Crows, they nest in the recreation ground 2 bungalows distance. Not Otters, my two are plastic!!

I think it could be crows. They sit on our garage roof and watch our fish so I reckon that's what took ours :)

Never noticed the crows near my pond but did have to chase the magpies away a few weeks ago, it never occurred to me that they would try and get at the fish, I just thought they were having a drink, I keep a net over mine because of my cats so the fish are actually safe but those rotten magpies will empty any nests they can get at, although it might seem mean I'm afraid they are the birds I do chase away, saying that they are a lovely looking bird...

Agree with you Dan.

Hi Siris

I checked with a expert and quote'

"An inch of washed pea gravel on the top will certainly help"

Thank you so much for that information Gg. You might remember I said a while ago that a 'button' was developing that I thought was a flower, that plant is still at the button stage. This is a different plant that developed the flower very quickly. I think it is flava? Correct me if I am mistaken. Ps do you ever pop a small dead fly/mosquito down a trumpet for 'afternoon tea'?

Both are "Flava" one is North Carolina and the other Rugelii Blackwater Florida

with "pitcher plants " yes you can drop a fly in for a treat but never on a "Venus Fly trap" if any one else is reading this.

That button might not develop now so sounds like it had a touch of frost as it will stop it flowering.

Just to add best taken out the pond by November and just kept damp in a cool outdoor spot until spring they will survive the winter so much better.

Thank you for all your advice, Gg. I am still hopeful the button will flower, it has extended a bit. These have been in the pond all winter. I think that cold snap a couple of weeks ago caught a lot of plants out that had been fooled by the warm weather earlier, for example my lovely Actinidia kolomikta, which has been frosted.

add my wisteria which I have had for over 20 years not one leaf showimg !!!! gutted !! it was the minus 2 !!!!

Such a shame Gg. And here I was thinking I was going 'more tropical' in my plantings.

the bark lower down is green , gave it the scratch test ... so wait and see ?

Gg

Patience Gg, two plants I thought I had lost through moving them have just started to show green.

Yes just leaving it alone , down side looks awful !

My garden has suffered with frost too, the Actinidia kolomikta is covered in brown crisp leaves, I lost a few wisteria buds, the cornus are awful, I'm a bit worried about the variegated one and the gunneras, sigh, are brown, the new growth on the roses is brown, I could go on.

12 May, Lily Beetles squashed - 6.