outdoor ponds?

[guidofatherof5]

Great looking pond, Sid.

I don't think the biggest problem with stolen fish comes from any legged creature. Snakes, especially Garters have a sweet tooth for fish and plunder many a pond. The other animals are left hoding the bag and the Garters are laughing all the way home.

[infernalis]

Now Steve, I am sorry but I'd really like to see a garter eat a 12 inch koi...

[anji1971]

I have the plastic form for a pond sitting in my shed, and the neighbour who gave it to me said they'd also provide the pump and waterfall when they dig it up from their yard.
I'm just waiting on a new privacy fence out back, so I can build my pond and not have it destroyed by the fence construction. Maybe this summer..........

[count dewclaw]

Ok, here are some pictures of my 200 gal stock tank/water garden...the first 2 pics are from scanned photos, so the quality isn't great.

Just finished pond, working on plantings


a visiting garter later that first year


the next year, things have filled in better

[infernalis]

I had to look really close to see that snake peeking out of the bush.

[guidofatherof5]

Wayne,
I wasn't talking about the big ones. It would be fun to watch and I don't think a full grown Garter would turn down the opportunity. When they're in the hunting mood, I don't think size is to much of a deterrent.

[brain]

I took this just a few minutes ago to share. We put our pond in the summer of 2001, it needs some work.

Each year I put in about 40 feeder gold fish and very few make it to the next year.

I have seen garters and coons in there but we have a bird known as the “Blue Herron” and the cats just love to chase them as they come in the yard to feed on my pond.

[jitami]

LeAnn, your pond is beautiful!!! Love the visiting garter! Too cute!

Micheal that is exactly what I want. Something very natural looking... I love that it's up against the wooded area, too. Cool.

[brain]

Now Steve, I am sorry but I'd really like to see a garter eat a 12 inch koi...

Will this work? Giant Garter snake-Thamnophis hammondii
Formerly classified as a subspecies of Thamnophis couchii.
T. digueti was synonymized with T. hammondii by McGuire and Grismer (1993, Herpetologica 49:354-365).

The Santa Catalina population of T. hammondii is treated as a distinct subspecies by the California Dept. of Fish and Game - Santa Catalina garter snake, Thamnophis hammondii ssp.


Steve Ivie and his Cub Scout troupe saw this snake enter a river in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County. They watched it swim upstream and grab a trout about 8 or 9 inches in length, then drag the trout onto a rock out of the water and eat it.

[jitami]

I've seen those pics before, but they never cease to impress me! There's also a video out there of a garter trying to eat a koi. It does not succeed in eating it, but does kill it.